"All right," said Ralph. "I see what you are after. That is a
better place than this, and if you land there I think I can
scramble over to you."
"Don't move," said the captain. "Sit where you are until I tell you
what to do."
The captain had not made more than two or three strokes after speaking
when his right hand struck against something hard, just below the surface
of the water. He involuntarily grasped it. It was immovable, and it felt
like a tree, a few inches in diameter, standing perpendicularly in the
lake. Wondering what this could be, he took hold of it with his other
hand, and finding that it supported him, he let his feet drop, when, to
his surprise, he found that they rested on something with a rounded
surface, and the idea instantly came into his mind that it was a
submerged tree, the trunk lying horizontally, from which this upright
branch projected. This might be as good a resting-place as the rock to
which he had been going, and standing on it, with his head well out of
the water, he turned to speak to Ralph. At that moment his feet slipped
from the slimy object on which he stood, and he fell backward into the
water, still grasping, however, his upright support. But this did not
remain upright more than an instant, but yielded to his weight, and the
end of it which he held went down with him. As he sank, the captain, in
his first bewilderment, did not loosen his grasp upon what had been his
support, and which still prevented him from sinking rapidly.
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