a resting-place as the rock to which he had been going, and standing on it, with his head well out of the water, he turned to speak to Ralph.  At that moment his feet slipped from the slimy object on which he stood, and he fell backward into the water, still grasping, however, his upright support.  But this did not remain upright more than an instant, but yielded to his weight, and the end of it which he held went down with him.  As he sank, the captain, in his first bewilderment, did not loosen his grasp upon what had been his support, and which still prevented him from sinking rapidly.  But in a moment his senses came to him, he let go, and a few downward strokes brought him to the surface of the water.  Then he struck out for the point of rock for which he had been aiming, and he was soon mounted upon it.

“Hi!” shouted Ralph, who had been so frightened by the captain’s sudden sinking that he nearly fell off his narrow seat, “I thought something had pulled you down.”

The captain did not explain.  He was spluttering a little after his involuntary dive, and he wanted to get back as soon as possible, and so wasted no breath in words.  In a few minutes he felt himself ready for the return trip, and getting into the water, he swam to Ralph.  Following the directions given him, the boy let himself down into the water behind the captain, and placed his hands upon the latter’s hips, firmly grasping the waistband of his trousers.  Then urging the boy not to change his position, nor attempt to take hold of him in any other way, the captain struck out across the lake, Ralph easily floating behind him.

When they stood upon the shelf on the other side, and Ralph, having rubbed himself down with the captain’s jacket, put on his clothes, Captain Horn rather sternly inquired of him how he came to do such a foolish and wicked thing as to run the risk of drowning himself in the lake at a time when his sister and his friends had already trouble enough on their minds.

Ralph was sorry, of course, that the captain had to come after him, and get himself wet, but he explained that he wanted to do something for the good of the party, and it had struck him that it would be a very sensible thing to investigate the opening on the other side of the lake.  If he could get out of that great gap, he might find some way of climbing out over the top of the rocks and get to the place where his flag was, and then, if he saw Mr. Rynders coming, he could wave it.  It would be a great thing if the people in the vessel which they all expected should see that flag the moment they came in sight of the coast.  They might get to shore an hour or two sooner than if they had not seen it.

“If the cramp in this leg had kept off five minutes longer,” he said, “I would have reached that big hole, and then, if I could have climbed over the top of the rocks, I could have come down on the other side to the front door, and asked Maka to get me my clothes, so I would not have had to swim back at all.”