As he approached it he looked round for the watchman who ought to have been there, but the man was gone from his post.

He shouted, but if any answer was returned, it was drowned by the roar of the rushing water.
"He reached the edge and looked down.

Fifteen feet below him was the reality of the dim vision that had come to him a mile back in the woods: the woman's husband swimming round and round like a rat in a pail.
"The river was flowing in and out of the lock at the same rate, so that the level of the water remained constant.

The first thing the man did was to close the lower sluices and then open those in the upper gate to their fullest extent.

The water began to rise.
"'Can you hold out ?' he cried.
"The drowning man turned to him a face already contorted by the agony of exhaustion, and answered with a feeble 'No.' "He looked around for something to throw to the man.