About five o'clock he saw two
men on the bank and called out to them, asking how far it was to
Cremona:
"Motto, Signor; motto," was the answer which means, "very much, very
much." It is the usual reply of all Italian peasants when asked
regarding distance.
Paul was so refreshed that he did not mind the discouraging answer. He
was on buoyant spirits and to it seemed to him as though he could dash
along forever without tiring, his strength was so great. He felt there
would be no difficulty in completing his undertaking in time. This
unusual animation and feeling of wondrous power, he could only attribute
to the effects of the food and wine. Pulling gaily along, he suddenly
felt a tremendous pressure in his head, and apparently without the
slightest cause, blood spurted from his mouth and nostrils. It occurred
to him that he had burst a blood vessel.
Brilliant lights seemed to be burning in front, behind and all around
him, with the intensity of electric search lights. A village appeared on
the bank and he concluded to stop. Pulling in shore, he was bewildered
to find only the mud bank. This discovery startled him into a
realization that something was wrong with his brain. The mind was
wavering between the hallucinations of a fever, and lucidity.
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