g on; but he could not be
sure, and then the distance increased, but only for a few moments.
Then, to his surprise, that distance was lessened; for the fierce stream
swirled round again as if rebounding from the riverside, and the current
set back to that from which he had come.

Not four yards between them now; and, making a few frantic efforts, the
lad forced himself through the water in his effort to lessen the
distance and grasp the sheep, when suddenly the surface was parted; a
bare arm and hand appeared clutching at the air, then another just level
with the surface, and before he could avoid it, he was clutched in the
death-grip of the drowning boy and borne under, the current seeming to
roll them over, down into the darkness of the thick water which roared
and thundered in his ears.

Richard's first impulse was to struggle free, his next to force himself
to the surface; but both efforts were in vain. He was as firmly bound
as if he had been chained, and a horrible feeling of despair attacked
him as he felt that he was losing consciousness fast, that all was over,
and the end at hand. Then, as his senses were leaving him, there was a
gleam of daylight for an instant as he and his companion were rolled
over by the current. The darkness deepened, and there was a violent
shock, the tearing and rending of boughs, and light once more.

For a few minutes Richard could do nothing but cling instinctively to
the twiggy bough up which he had struggled till his face was a little
above the surface, his hands a few inches higher still, and his body
dragged out level with the water; while it seemed to him that the
unfortunate boy he had tried to save was tugging violently at his waist
to drag him from his hold, bending and shaking the bough till it swayed
to and fro like a spring.

For some little time his clinging was instinctive, every fibre in his
body naturally resisting the savage jerks to tear him from his hold; but
by degrees he recovered sufficiently to realise his position, and his
heart gave a great leap as he found for certain that, though something
which felt like a ragged garment was wound about his legs, he was once
more free, and that his drowning companion's grasp had been torn away
when the furious current swept them into the tree.

Of its force he kept on gaining fresh consciousness as the tugging
continued and the tree yielded and sprung back, and with this
consciousness something of the horror of his