lear his eyes or his nostrils, or
recover his self-possession, he was stealthily dragged down again.
And with a pang of horror he realized that he was caught by the foot.

A powerful swimmer, Barnes struck out mightily with his arms and came
to the surface again at once, rising beyond the shoulders. But by so
much the more was he violently snatched back again, strangling and
desperate, before he had time to empty his lungs and catch breath.
This time the shock sobered him, flashing the full peril of the
situation before his startled consciousness. With a tremendous effort
of will he stopped his struggling, and contented himself with a
gentle paddling to keep upright. This time he came more softly to the
surface, clear beyond the chin. The foam and debris and turbulence of
little waves seethed about his lips, and the sunlight danced
confusingly in his streaming eyes; but he gulped a fresh lungful
before he again went under.

[Illustration: "He realized that he was caught by the foot."]

Paddling warily now, he emerged again at once, and, with arms
outspread, brought himself to a precarious equilibrium, his mouth just
above the surface so long as he held his head well back. Keeping very
still, he let his bewildered wits clear, and the agitated surface
settle to quiet.

He was in a deep, tranquil cove, hardly stirred by an eddy. Some ten
paces farther out from shore the main current swirled past sullenly,
as if weary from the riot of falls and rapids. Across the current a
little space of sand-beach, jutting out from the leafy shore, shone
golden in the sun. Up and down the stream, as far as his extremely
restricted vision would suffer him to see, nothing but thick,
overhanging branches, and the sullen current. Very cautiously he
turned his head--though to do so brought the water over his lips--and
saw behind him just what he expected. The high, almost perpendicular
bank was scarred by a gash of bright, raw, reddish earth, where the
brink had slipped away beneath his weight.

Just within reach of his hand lay, half submerged, the thick, leafy
top of a fallen poplar sapling, its roots apparently still clinging
to the bank. Gently he laid hold of it, testing it, in the hope that
it might prove solid enough to enable him to haul himself out. But it
came away instantly in his grasp. And once more, in this slight
disturbance of his equilibrium, his head went under.

Barnes was disappointed, but he was now absolutely maste