one cannot be thoroughly dry the next best
thing is to be thoroughly wet.

They chose the widest and heaviest of the boats, a stout old tub with
two pairs of oarlocks. Each of the four manned an oar and pulled with
both hands. It was almost impossible to get started against the wind,
and when at last their steady, even pulling overcame the deterring power
of the gale they were able to move at but a snail's pace. They followed
the shoreline, keeping as close in as they could, preferring the
circuitous route to the more perilous row across the lake.

As their roundabout voyage brought them to the opposite shore, their
progress became easier, for the mountain rising sheer above them
protected them from the wind.

"Let her drift a minute," said Tom, panting; "lift your oars."

It was the first word that any of them had spoken, so intense had been
their exertions.

"She's going straight ahead," said Westy.

"What's that?" said Roy suddenly. "Look out!"

He spoke just in time to enable them to get out of the path of a
floating tree which was drifting rapidly in the same direction as the
boat. Its great mass of muddy roots brushed against them.

"It's just as I thought," Tom said; "the water must be pouring out
through the cove. We're caught in it. Let's try to get a little off
shore; we'll have one of those trees come tumbling down on our heads the
first thing we know."

"Not so easy," said Hervey, as they tried to backwater and at the same
time get out from under the mountain.

"Put her in reverse," said Roy, who never failed to get the funny squint
on a situation.

But there was no use, the rushing water had them in its grip and they
were borne along pell-mell, with trees and broken limbs which had fallen
down the mountainside.

They were directly opposite the camp now, and cheerful lights could be
seen in the pavilion where the whole camp community was congregated,
safe from the storm. The noises which had seemed weird enough at camp
were appalling now, as out of that havoc far above them, great bowlders
came tumbling down into the lake with loud splashes.

Tom realized, all too late, the cause of the dreadful peril they were
in. Out on the body of the lake and toward the camp shore the wind was
blowing a gale from the mountains and, as it were, forcing the water
back. But directly under the mountain there was no wind, and their
position was as that of a person who is _under_ the curve of a
waterfall. And