Had it been a matter of my life only, I would have swum to meet him.

Dearly would I have loved to fight it out with him then and there--with steel, on a fine night, and none to come between us.

But there was the King! I restrained myself, but I could not bridle my swift breathing, and I watched him with the intensest eagerness.
He swam leisurely and quietly across.

There were more steps up on the other side, and he climbed them.

When he set foot in the gateway, standing on the drawn-back bridge, he felt in his pocket and took something out.