TWIXT COLD AND HEAT. 85 



creek only would be beneath me, except a single outreacli- 

 ing branch of a large raaple that stood opposite the elm. 

 If I fell, this might catch me ; if not, a plunge into the 

 creek, twenty or more feet below, was the only alterna- 

 tive. Foolhardy as it was, I resolved to try, and up that 

 elm I clambered, with, I must admit, mixed feelings of 

 determination and doubt. The upward climb alone was 

 easily accomplished, but that outward creep — ah! it 

 makes me shudder to recall it. Needing all the grasp- 

 ing power I possessed, I took o£E my shoes, and found 

 that bared feet were far more available as claspers than 

 one might suppose. So effectively did they cling to the 

 rough bark that I was forcibly and favorably impressed 

 with the derivative theory of man's descent from an ar- 

 boreal, simian ancestry. The outward creep was com- 

 menced, and a yard brought me fairly over the black, 

 deep water. I dared not look at it, but keeping my 

 eye steadily fixed upon the nest, slowly crept forward. 

 I was my length from the base of the limb, and over 

 the middle of the creek. A half length was yet to be 

 accomplished and I was within reach of the nest. Care- 

 fully I moved forward yet a little farther, and trem- 

 blingly put out my right hand and took up an egg. I 

 placed it in my mouth ; then another was secured, and 

 now I was content to withdraw — but how? I tried 

 creeping backward, but it was not practicable. My 

 clothes caught in the bark and held me fast. I must 

 go forward or drop ; but the former was, of course, im- 

 possible. Must I drop, then, into the water? At this 

 moment the birds returned, or, if hitherto silent specta- 

 tors, were now emboldened to attack me. That they 



