"I could cut away part of it if I had an axe."
"Mine is around here somewhere," Bill said with a groan.
Jack soon found the tool, and, working very cautiously lest he should cause the sufferer yet more pain, chopped here and there to remove the larger twigs, while Aunt Nancy bathed Bill's pale face with her handkerchief wetted in the pond.
"Where are you hurt, William?" asked Aunt Nancy anxiously.—Page 252.
It required nearly half an hour of the most fatiguing labor to perform the task, and then Jack said as he threw down the axe,—
"When I lift on this end you must try to pull him out, Aunt Nancy."
The first attempt was a failure, but at the second the little woman succeeded, and Bill was drawn from his uncomfortable position looking decidedly the worse for wear.
"Can you stand up?" Aunt Nancy asked solicitously as she brushed the dirt from Bill's hands, and little Louis patted his cheek to show he wished to take some part in the rescue, even though it only was to display sympathy.
"I'll try," Master Dean said meekly, and, with the aid of Aunt Nancy and Jack, the sorrowful looking bully arose to his feet.