Ye
see how it's toppling?"
It was true that the fallen tree was in a very precarious
position. When Toby stirred at all, the small weight he rested
on the branch made the head of the tree dip perilously. And if
it did fall the old man would be thrust into the quagmire by the
weight of the branches which overhung his body.
"Let go of it, Toby!" called Tom, accelerating his motions.
"Catch this!"
He flung the coil with skill and Toby seized it. The rocking
tree groaned and slipped forward a little. Toby gave a yell that
could have been heard much farther than his previous cries.
But Tom sank back on the taut rope and fairly jerked the old man
out of the miry hole. Scrambling on hands and knees, Toby
reached firmer ground, and then the road itself.
Nan uttered a startled exclamation and cowered behind the cart.
The huge tree, groaning and its roots splintering, sagged down
and, in an instant, the spot there the old lumberman had been,
was completely covered by the interlacing branches of the
uprooted tree.
"Close squeal, that," remarked Tom, helping the old man to his
feet.
Toby stared at them both, wiping the mire from his face as he did
so. He was certainly a scarecrow figure after his submersion in
the mud; gut Nan did not feel like laughing at him.
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