Sevenbergen was too hot for him.
Gerard, severed from her he loved, went like one in a dream.

He hired a horse and a guide at the little hostelry, and rode swiftly towards the German frontier.

But all was mechanical; his senses felt blunted; trees and houses and men moved by him like objects seen through a veil.

His companions spoke to him twice, but he did not answer.

Only once he cried out savagely, "Shall we never be out of this hateful country ?" After many hours' riding they came to the brow of a steep hill; a small brook ran at the bottom.
"Halt!" cried the guide, and pointed across the valley.