But when he raised himself to peer out he saw that an attempt of this kind would be liable to failure.

At the same moment he saw a rough-hewn plank lying beneath him, lodged against some willows.

The end of the plank extended in almost to a point beneath him.
Quick as a flash he saw where a desperate chance invited him.

Then he tied his gun in an oilskin bag and put it in his pocket.
The bank was steep and crumbly.

He must not break off any earth to splash into the water.