Searchlight in hand, the Rover boys peered out over the surface of the swiftly-flowing river, which at this point was about seventy-five feet wide.  The bridge was built in three sections, and it was the middle span which had collapsed at the farther end, so that the automobile had plunged into water which was at least eight feet deep.

“Do you see anything of him?” asked Sam, eagerly, as the rays from the light flashed in one direction and then in another.

“If he managed to get out of the auto, perhaps he floated down with the current,” responded his brother.  “Anyhow, he doesn’t seem to be around here.”

“Maybe he was caught under the wheel.  If so, we had better get him out without delay.”

“Look!  Look!” And now Tom pointed. down the river.  There in the moonlight, both boys saw a form coming to the surface.  The fellow was beating the water wildly with his hands, and now he set up a frantic cry for aid.  Turning the searchlight in that direction, the Rover boys left the vicinity of the broken bridge, and made their way down to something of a footpath that ran along the water’s edge.  Tom was in the lead.  Here and there the bushes hung over the stream, and both lads had to scramble along as best they could.

“Help!  Help!” The cry came faintly, and then the two boys saw the fellow in the water throw up both arms and sink from view.

“He has gone under!” gasped Sam.  “Hurry up, Tom, or we’ll be too late!”

Scrambling wildly through the last of the bushes and onto some flat rocks that, in this vicinity, ran out into the river, the Rover boys soon gained a point which was less than four yards from where the unfortunate youth had disappeared.  Leading the way, Tom leaped from one flat stone in the stream to another.  Sam followed closely, holding the searchlight on the spot where both hoped the fellow in the water might reappear.

“Here he is!” cried Tom.  And, as he spoke, Sam saw a dark object turn over in the stream close to the rock on which his brother had leaped.  The next instant Tom was down on his knees and feeling through the water.

“Hold my hand, Sam,” said the older Rover.  And as Sam took his left hand, Tom clutched with his right the coat of the party in the river.  Then came a hard pull; and a moment later Tom had the dripping form on the rock.

“Is he—­ he—­ dead?” questioned Sam, hoarsely.

“I don’t think so, but he certainly has had a close call.  We must get him ashore and work over him as soon as possible.  You light the way; I think I can carry him alone.”

The fellow who had been hauled out of the river was a slightly-built youth, not over twenty years of age.  As Tom was both big and muscular, it was an easy matter for him to throw the stranger over his shoulder.  Sam led the way to the shore, keeping the light down on the rocks so that his brother might be sure of his footing.

Once safe, the boys placed the stranger on the grass and started to work over him.  He was unconscious, and had evidently swallowed considerable water.  Fortunately, the lads had taken lessons in how to resuscitate a person who had been close to drowning, so they knew exactly what to do.