The limb next above that one was several good feet higher and quite strong enough to sustain his weight should he reach it, as I knew he quite well could.
The temptation was too great for him, and so he walked backward, to keep it in view all the time, to where I had stood, and stooping gave a very fine leap, in which he caught the branch all well enough, and I likewise caught his feet and ran swiftly in the direction in which I wished to go, a sufficient distance to bring him his full length on the ground, which he struck with sufficient force to stun or daze him, and he was not aware of my escape until I was too far away for him to overtake me, and I saw no more of him.
My ears next caught a sound which turned out to be the bellowing of a herd of cattle, coming at a terrific speed down my path. There were several hundred of them, according to the count I made of them as they were passing me, and they were in very much of a hurry and frightfully excited, one old bull in the lead having his head down, uttering dreadful cries and snorting viciously.
They would quickly be upon me, and they were so thick and dense I could not squeeze to one side and let them pass without being trod upon.
My presence of mind saved me from an awful death; a few seconds longer of delay on my part and I should have been crushed by their horrid hoofs. In those few seconds I grasped a sapling, bent its top into the path, took a firm hold and let go the other hand, swinging clear of their heads and horns just in the nick of time.
And my new dilemma was as great as the one I had safely passed. The leaves were so thick and so were the little branches, it became a very serious matter to fall to the ground without carrying with me a leaf or two or a twig or so. I was satisfied I could not escape such a catastrophe, and was about to resign myself to my fate, when a most peculiar thing happened.
A mammoth spider was spinning his web among the branches above my head, and his web was like linen thread. A happy thought came into my mind, and I was about to put it into execution when I saw he had stretched a thread across the path and I had disarranged this when I had bent down the tree, and he was now about to repair the damage. The best of it all was his main line was quite within my reach, along which he was just then traveling.