Then she heard the same rasping and thumping against the wall, and, looking out, saw that a large uprooted tree, which had lain near the road at the upper end of the pasture, had floated down to the house.
Luckily its long roots dragged in the soil and kept it from moving as rapidly as the current, for had it struck the house in its full career, even the strong nails and bolts in the piles could not have withstood the shock.

The hound had leaped upon its knotty surface, and crouched near the roots shivering and whining.

A ray of hope flashed across her mind.

She drew a heavy blanket from the bed, and, wrapping it about the babe, waded in the deepening waters to the door.

As the tree swung again, broadside on, making the little cabin creak and tremble, she leaped on to its trunk.