“Never mind, fellows,” interposed Frank; “for my part, I am glad the Butterfly had it all to herself.  She has just come out, and it will be a feather in her cap.”

“But we saved the chaise,” said Charles.

“We pulled it ashore; it was safe enough where it was.  The Butterfly saved the lives of the man and woman, and of the horse.  They would have drowned, and all the glory consisted in saving them.  Tony and his crew deserve all the credit, and I, for one, am happy to accord it to them.”

“That’s just like you, Frank!” exclaimed Little Paul.  “I believe, if the two boats had changed places, you would have given us all the credit.”

“You behaved nobly.”

“Just as you would have done if you had been in Tony’s place.”

“We will talk that over some other time.  We are ready to return when you are.”

“I suppose there is nothing more to be done.”

They were about to embark, when they discovered a party of men approaching the place, several of them carrying ropes and poles.

“Hold on;” shouted Farmer Leeds, to whose house the boys had conducted the lady and gentleman.  “We want your boat to get the chaise out of the river with.”

“It is out now,” replied Little Paul.

The boys waited till the party reached the river.  A clump of trees had prevented them from seeing the chaise till they had got almost to the shore; and, as Little Paul expressed it afterwards, “they looked surprised enough, to see it high and dry upon the rocks.”

“I must say one thing, Mr. Leeds,” began Mr. Walker; “and that is, you have smart boys in this vicinity.”

“Toler’ble,” replied the farmer, with a smile.

“They are men in noble deeds.”

“This boating business turns the boys into men; and though, in my opinion, it would be just as well to set ’em to work in the cornfields, there is no denying that it brings ’em out, and makes ’em smart.”

“My wife would certainly have been drowned without their help.”

“I daresay.”

“But where is the little fellow that commanded the boat?” asked Mr. Walker, scrutinizing the faces of the boys.

“He has gone home, sir; he was wet and cold.”

“That is right; I am glad he has; I shall go and see him by and by.  And these are the boys that brought the chaise ashore?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Little Paul.  “This is Frank Sedley, the coxswain of the Zephyr.”

“Well, Master Sedley, I am under great obligations to you.”

“Not at all to me, sir.  Tony Weston saved you.  We only pulled the chaise ashore.”

“But you shall not be forgotten.  The other boat is gone, you say?”

“Yes, sir.  Tony Weston is the coxswain of the Butterfly.”