beaten against a sharp rock, and the birch was upon me so that I
could not move.

My legs were on the bank, and underneath the snow beneath my
shoulders I soon felt the ice, from which stones protruded. One
snow-covered rock received and supported my head. I lay upon my
right side, and my right hand, swinging in a curve, had struck with
force upon another stone, and lay upon the ice, the only part of my
body, except my head, which was free. My left arm was pressed close
to my side by the birch, which lay across my body and legs.

The weight was not so great but that I could have lifted it, could
I but have gained purchase. But I must at the same time lift my own
body, for my hips were lower than my feet, my shoulders lower than
my hips; and I could not gather ten pounds of force in that
position.

My fall confused me somewhat, and I could not at first feel
anything, either the pain in my hand or the danger I was in. I
noticed only the fine, powdery snow which, cast up by the fall,
settled upon me as I lay. Then I saw my arm, stretched out in front
of me, with a bloody hand at the end of it, and I came fully to
myself.

A pain shot from finger-tip to shoulder as I closed my hand tighter
upon the butt of the revolver. But I clenched my teeth and tried to
rise--tried twice more before I gave it up as hopeless. Then I
raised my hand and put it in a better position, propped upon a
stone.