He got them out , but struggled in vain to coil them up or to hoist his heavy body upon the very small island in this sea of mud . Down they splashed again ; and Sam gave a dismal groan as he thought of the leeches and water-snakes which might be lying in wait below . Visions of the lost cow also flashed across his agitated mind , and he gave a despairing shout very like a distracted `` Moo ! '' Few people passed along the lane , and the sun was setting , so the prospect of a night in the marsh nerved Sam to make a frantic plunge toward the bulrush island , which was nearer than the mainland , and looked firmer than any tussock round him . But he failed to reach this haven of rest , and was forced to stop at an old stump which stuck up , looking very like the moss-grown horns of the `` dear departed . '' Roosting here , Sam began to shout for aid in every key possible to the human voice . Such hoots and howls , whistles and roars , never woke the echoes of the lonely marsh before , or scared the portly frog who resided there in calm seclusion . He hardly expected any reply but the astonished `` Caw ! '' of the crow , who sat upon a fence watching him with gloomy interest ; and when a cheerful `` Hullo , there ! '' sounded from the lane , he was so grateful that tears of joy rolled down his fat cheeks . `` Come on ! I 'm in the ma ` sh . Lend a hand and get me out ! '' bawled Sam , anxiously waiting for his deliverer to appear , for he could only see a hat bobbing along behind the hazel-bushes that fringed the lane . Steps crashed through the bushes , and then over the wall came an active figure , at the sight of which Sam was almost ready to dive out of sight , for , of all possible boys , who should it be but Ben , the last person in the world whom he would like to have see him in his present pitiful plight . `` Is it you , Sam ? Well , you are in a nice fix ! '' and Ben 's eyes began to twinkle with mischievous merriment , as well they might , for Sam certainly was a spectacle to convulse the soberest person . Perched unsteadily on the gnarled stump , with his muddy legs drawn up , his dismal face splashed with mud , and the whole lower half of his body as black as if he had been dipped in an inkstand , he presented such a comically doleful object that Ben danced about , laughing like a naughty will-o ' - the-wisp who , having led a traveller astray then fell to jeering at him . `` Stop that , or I 'll knock your head off ! ''
roared XXXXX , in a rage .
Hullo Moo Sam deliverer hazel-bushes night the-wisp tussock whistles will-o