quite a
long time before I caught a glimpse of his lordship--a tremendous perch.
I tell you I felt quite proud as his head came up out of the water.

"He was nearly up to the log, when he made a sudden, last leap in the
air, and the quickness of it and his weight half threw me off my
balance. I made a hurried step on the log, and my right foot slipped
into a huge, gaping crack. It was only after I had made two or three
ineffectual struggles to release it that I found I was stuck.

"Well I didn't realize the seriousness of the position for a few
minutes," the Hermit went on. "I could understand that I was wedged, but
I certainly never dreamed that I could not, by dint of manoeuvring,
wriggle my foot out of the crack. So I turned my attention to my big
fish, and--standing in a most uncomfortable position--managed to land
him; and a beauty he was, handsome as paint, with queer markings on his
sides. I put him down carefully, and then tried to free myself.

"And I tried--and tried--and tried--until I was tired out, and stiff and
hopeless. By that time it was nearly dark. After I had endeavoured
unsuccessfully to get the boot clear, I unlaced it, and tried to get my
foot out of it--but I was in a trifle too far for that, and try as I
would I could not get it free. The crack was rather on the side of the
log. I could not get a straight pull. Hurt? Yes, of course it hurt--not
more from the pinching of the log, which you may try any time by
screwing your foot up in a vice, than from my own wild efforts to get
clear. My foot and ankle were stiff and sore from my exertions long
before I knocked off in despair. I might have tried to cut the wood
away, had I not left my knife on the bank, where I was fishing first. I
don't know that it would have done much good, anyhow.

"Well, I looked at the situation--in fact, I had been looking at it all
the time. It wasn't a very cheering prospect, either. The more I
pondered over it, the less chance I saw of getting free. I had done all
I could towards that end; now it only remained to wait for something to
'turn up.' And I was quite aware that nothing was in the least likely to
turn up, and also that in all probability I would wear out some time
before the log did.

"Night came on, and I was as hungry as a hunter--being a hunter, I knew
just how hungry that is. I hadn't anything to eat except raw fish, and I
wasn't quite equal to that yet. I had only one pipe of tobacco too, and
you may