An Occurrence at owl Creek Bridge - One Summer ...

He unclosed his eyes and saw again the water below him. 'If I could free my hands,' he thought, 'I might hrow off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. My home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still beyond the invader's farthest advance.'