“Where?” demanded Mr. Opp, rashly eager to prove his gallantry.
[p123]
“’Way down over the edge; but you mustn’t go, it’s too steep.”
“Not for me,” said Mr. Opp, plunging boldly through the underbrush.
The tree grew at a sharp angle over the water, and the branches were so far up that it was necessary to climb out a short distance in order to reach them. Mr. Opp’s soul was undoubtedly that of a knight-errant, but his body, alas! was not. When he found himself astride the slender, swaying trunk, with the bank dropping sharply to the river flowing dizzily beneath him, he went suddenly and unexpectedly blind. Between admiration for himself for ever having gotten there, and despair of ever getting back, lay the present necessity of loosening his hold long enough to break off a branch of the crimson leaves. He tried opening one eye, but the effect was so terrifying that he promptly closed it. He pictured himself, a few moments before, strolling gracefully along the road conversing brilliantly upon divers subjects; then he bitterly considered the [p124] present moment and the effect he must be producing upon the young lady in the red cloak on the path above. He saw himself clinging abjectly to the swaying tree-trunk, only waiting for his strength or the tree to give away, before he should be plunged into the waters below.
“That’s a pretty spray,” called the soft voice from above; “that one above, to the left.”
Mr. Opp, rallying all his courage, reached blindly out in the direction indicated, and as he did so, he realized that annihilation was imminent. Demonstrating a swift geometrical figure in the air, he felt himself hurling through space, coming to an abrupt and awful pause when he struck the earth. Perceiving with a thrill of surprise that he was still alive, he cautiously opened his eyes. To his further amazement he found that he had landed on his feet, unhurt, and that in his left hand he held a long branch of sweet-gum leaves.
“Why, you skinned the cat, didn’t you?” called an admiring voice from [p125] above. “I was just wondering how you was ever going to get down.”
Mr. Opp crawled up the slippery bank, his knees trembling so that he could scarcely stand.
“Yes,” he said, as he handed her the leaves; “those kind of athletic acts seem to just come natural to some people.”
“You must be awful strong,” continued Guinevere, looking at him with approval.