The Thundering Herd 65 



At the first convenient projection he stopped 

 to rest, and to pick out the best going for 

 the next twenty feet. Then he would 

 slowly start, slipping and sliding again. 



At last by dint of many stops, he reached 

 a point within fifty feet of the bottom, but 

 the rest of the way was very steep, and 

 here he paused, uncertain what to do next. 

 Finally he concluded that the only thing 

 to do was to go on, so with a grand slip and 

 a slide that carried down tons of earth with 

 him, he reached the bottom in a cloud of 

 dust. 



Having attained his goal at so much 

 labor, he seemed determined to get his 

 money's worth, so wallowed about in the 

 shallow water near the shore, drinking and 

 blowing the water from his nose for half an 

 hour. Finally he began slowly to ascend 

 just as he had come down. 



As in the descent, the fifty feet nearest 

 the river was the most difficult, and this 



