ht of the morning
revealed the gray road winding ribbon-like away into the distance, the
first glints of sunlight falling upon its bordering rocks and trees as
if to taunt and mock him.

And meanwhile the minutes passed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

UP A TREE

In military parlance, Tom had advanced only to be caught in a pocket.
There he sat, astride a large limb, hanging onto the heavy machine,
which depended below him just free of the water. He had, with
difficulty, moved his painful grip upon a part of the machine's
mechanism and succeeded in clutching the edge of the forward wheel. This
did not cut his hands so much, but the weight was unbearable in his
embarrassed attitude.

Indeed, it was not so much his strength, which was remarkable, that
enabled him to keep his hold upon this depending dead weight, as it was
sheer desperation. It seemed to be pulling his arms out of their
sockets, and his shoulders ached incessantly. At the risk of losing his
balance altogether he sought relief by the continual shifting of his
position but he knew that the strain was too great for him and that he
must let go presently.

It seemed like a mockery that he should have gained the shore only to be
caught in this predicament, and to see his trusty machine go tumbling
into the water beyond all hope of present recovery, simply because he
could not hang on to it.

Well, then, he _would_ hang on to it. He would hang on to it though
every muscle of his body throbbed, though his arms were dragged out, and
though he collapsed and fell from that limb himself in the last anguish
of the aching strain. He and _Uncle Sam_, having failed, would go down
together.

And meanwhile the minutes passed and _Uncle Sam_ and Tom were reflected,
inverted, in the water where the spreading light was now flickering. How
strange and grotesque they looked, upside down and clinging to each
other for dear life and wriggling in the ripples of rushing water.
_Uncle Sam_ seemed to be holding _him_ up. It was all the same--they
were partners.

He noticed in the water something which he had not noticed before--the
reflection of a short, thick, broken branch projecting from the heavy
limb he was straddling. He glanced about and found that it was behind
him. His stooping attitude, necessitated by the tremendous drag on his
arms, prevented him even from looking freely behind him, and in trying
to do so he nearly fell. The strain he was suffering was so great