Humphrey got close up to him behind, and put his arms round him. "Hurrah" he shouted; "here we both are!"
They had been so engrossed that they had not noticed how the weather had clouded over. The bank of clouds they had noticed was nearly over their heads, the air was becoming thick and oppressive, far in the distance was heard the growl of approaching thunder, and some big drops of rain fell.
Humphrey remembered, with a start, his father's injunctions about Miles, and the ill effects of their last adventure. "We must go home," he exclaimed; and, forgetting their perilous position, he moved so suddenly, that he nearly sent his little brother off the branch. Instinctively he reached out his hand to save him, and Miles nearly overbalanced himself in his attempt to cling to it.
Their combined movements were too much for the decaying wood, already rocking beneath their weight. It swayed—it shivered—it creaked ... and then with a crash it broke from its parent bark!—and boys and branch were precipitated into the water below.