d to them.

Having procured a slight sapling, and split it at the end, I placed a
piece of bread in the notch, and proceeded to amuse myself with the
manoeuvres of the birds.

One piece after another was snatched away from the stick, and I had
nearly emptied my pockets, when all at once the sod upon which I was
standing gave way under me, and I fell _plump_ into the water.

I fell with a plunge like a large stone, and as I could not swim a
stroke, I should have gone to the bottom like one, but it so happened
that I came down right in the middle of the swans, who were no doubt
taken as much by surprise as myself.

Now it was not through any peculiar presence of mind on my part, but
simply from the instinct of self-preservation, which is common to every
living creature, that I made an effort to save myself. This I did by
throwing out my hands, and endeavouring to seize hold of something, just
as drowning men will catch even at straws. But I caught something
better than a straw, for I chanced to seize upon the leg of one of the
biggest and strongest of the swans, and to that I held on, as if my life
depended on my not letting it go.

At the first plunge my eyes and ears had been filled with water, and I
was hardly sensible of what I was doing. I could hear a vast splashing
and spluttering as the birds scattered away in affright, but in another
second of time I had consciousness enough to perceive that I had got
hold of the leg of the swan, and was being towed rapidly through the
water. I had sense enough to retain my hold; and in less time than I
have taken to tell it, I was dragged better than half across the pond,
which, after all, was but a short distance. The swan made no attempt to
swim, but rather fluttered along the surface, using his wings, and
perhaps the leg that was still free, to propel himself forward. Terror,
no doubt, had doubled both his strength and his energies, else he could
never have towed such a weight, big and strong as he was. How long the
affair would have lasted, it is hard to say. Not very long, however.
The bird might have kept above water a good while, but I could not have
held out much longer. I was every moment being ducked under, the water
at each immersion getting into my mouth and nostrils. I was fast losing
consciousness, and would soon have been forced to let go.

Just at this crisis, to my great joy, I felt something touch me
underneath; some rough object had struck agai