of which she was exposed. Still Philip and Harry
bravely pursued their course, their eyes straining a-head, and utterly
regardless of the danger they themselves were running.

"Phil, can you see him?" cried Harry. "I think I do. Yes, surely,
there's something moving on the boat's keel."

"Yes, I hope so: he's lying his length along it; he could not sit up,"
answered Philip. "How bitterly cold the wind blows out here."

"Yes, he will be almost frozen, poor fellow; he will lose his boat,
too," said Harry. "Shall we carry him on to his place, or back to our
own?"

"Certainly, to ours. In his own hut he has no one to look after him
properly; while with us he will have no lack of nurses," remarked
Philip. "Paddle away, Harry; he sees us."

"Hurrah, D'Arcy!" cried Harry, "we are coming to you, old fellow." A
hand was seen to wave in return to Harry's cheer. "All right--all
right!" cried Harry, delighted, "he is there and alive!"

D'Arcy had managed to get one of his boots off, but he had great
difficulty in clinging to the keel. He did not cry out to his friends
to make haste, for he knew that they were doing their utmost to reach
him. They encouraged him, however, to hold on; for they judged, by the
chilly blast which swept across the lake, that he must be numbed and
fainting. At length they got alongside the boat; and now the greatest
caution was necessary, lest, in taking him in, the canoe should be
capsized. The boat likewise, on being touched, might roll up, and with
her mast stave in the fragile side of the canoe. It seemed almost
impossible to accomplish their object without upsetting themselves.
Those who know what a birch-bark canoe is like will best understand the
difficulty.

"Take me in by the head," said D'Arcy; "I'll crawl in."

They accordingly paddled round to the stern of the boat, to which Philip
made the bow of the canoe fast, and he was then able to reach over
sufficiently to take hold of D'Arcy's hands, and to drag him on till he
could place one foot on each gunwale of the canoe, and then, by drawing
himself back, he took the weight off the bow and gradually drew his
friend on board. D'Arcy's knees, however, very nearly went through the
thin bottom. He asked them to continue on to his clearing, that he
might get off again and try to save his boat; but Philip would not hear
of it.

"No, no," he answered, "she will drift on shore not far off, and we
shall easily be able to find he