sound, however, told the soldiers and crowd in the front street that the
fugitive was escaping at the rear, and there was a general rush down the
street to the next turning. Walter was a hundred yards ahead, before the
mob reached the turning, and was rapidly distancing the soldiers who were
pursuing him. Unfortunately, however, there were many people hurrying
from all sides, attracted by the shouting and firing. Several of these,
in response to the shouts of the soldiers, tried to stop him as he dashed
past, and failing to do so, at once joined in the pursuit.

Walter saw that he must be captured, if he kept straight on, for a group
of men approaching, warned by the shouts of his pursuers, prepared to
seize him. He therefore turned sharp down a narrow lane to his left.
Another fifty yards he was through this, and found himself on the road,
running by the side of the Liffey. Without a moment's hesitation he
sprang across it, and plunged into the river.

Even in the moment of his spring, he perceived that the tide was running
up. Had it been ebbing, he would have made down and tried to gain the
shore, under shelter of the shipping moored below. But it was useless to
think of swimming against the tide. His pursuers were but a few yards
behind him, and the second time he rose to the surface for air, two or
three shots were fired. He dived again, and when he next came up, took a
deliberate look round in order to judge of his chances.

He was now about a third of the way across. The shore he had left was
already lined with people, and several were gathering on the opposite
bank. Two or three shots struck the water close to him, and he knew that
he was visible to his pursuers. Taking a long breath, he again went under
water. He was a first-rate swimmer and diver, having bathed regularly,
summer and winter, in the bay below the castle.