as not so punctilious. She hadn't the
same instinct of fairness that the Maynards had, and half intentionally,
half by accident, she flung a handful of water straight in King's face.

This almost blinded the boy, and for a moment he lost control of his oar.
An involuntary move on his part, due to the shock of the water in his
face, sent the blade of one oar down deep, and as he tried to retrieve
it, it splashed a whole wave all over Molly.

But Molly thought King intended to do this, and that it was merely part
of the game, so with one of her lightning-like movements, she grasped
the blade of the oar in retaliation. The oar being farther away than she
thought, and rapidly receding, caused her to lean far over the boat, and
in his effort to get his oar again in position, King, too, leaned over
the side.

The result was exactly what might have been expected. The narrow,
clinker-built boat capsized, and in a moment the four children were
struggling in the water.

Even as the boat went over, King realized what had happened, and
realized, too, that he was responsible for the safety of the three girls.
With fine presence of mind he threw his arm over the keel of the upturned
boat and shouted, "It's all right, girls! Just hang on to the boat this
way, and you won't go down."

Marjorie and Molly understood at once, and did exactly as King told them.
They were terribly frightened, and were almost strangled, but they
realized the emergency, and struggled to get their arms up over the boat
in the manner King showed them.

But Kitty did not so quickly respond to orders. She had not been paying
any attention to the merry war going on in the stern of the boat, and
when she was suddenly thrown out into the water, she could not at first
collect her scattered senses. King's words seemed to convey no meaning to
her, and to his horror, the boy saw his sister sink down under the water.

"Hang on like fury, you two girls!" he shouted to Marjorie and Molly, and
then he made a dive for Kitty.

King was a good swimmer, but, hampered by his clothing, and frightened
terribly by Kitty's disappearance, he could not do himself justice. But
he caught hold of Kitty's dress, and by good fortune both rose to the
surface. King grabbed for the boat, but it slipped away from him, and
the pair went down again.

At this Marjorie screamed. She had been trying to be brave, yet the sight
of her brother and sister being, as she feared, drowned, was to