f, and Jack awaited them there.

He was frightened when he saw that Toppin's familiar little pink face
had changed to an ivory-white, and that his eyes were shut. Was he
senseless, or worse? Jack grasped the small, dripping body in his arms,
and staggered to where the bell hung that summoned the attendant. He
pealed it loudly, and sank down beneath it to wait. Other boys had
arrived during the incident, and were now pressing round, questioning
and jabbering. Jack had nothing to say to them. He was hard at work
chafing the motionless form, and his brain was in a whirl. What if
Toppin never moved or spoke again!

Suddenly the eyelids lifted: Toppin looked straight into Jack's face.

"May I move now?" he asked innocently. Oh, what a relief it was to hear
his voice!

"You young fraud!" exclaimed Jack; but his own voice shook, and he was
glad to surrender his charge into the hands of the attendant, a man
trained for his position. The March Hare, who was shivering beside him,
sobbed with joy when he saw one small leg draw itself up, and an arm
move a few inches, at their owner's will.

"Top-peen! Top-peen!" he cried. "You are not died!"

Toppin stared at his friend over a tea-spoon. He was sipping hot
spirits-and-water, and wondering what it was. But Jack turned upon the
March Hare.

"We shall be standing you head downwards in a minute, Hare. You're next
door to drowning yourself. Get up, and come with me!"

The Hare protested feebly, with chattering teeth. But the attendant
thrust a spoonful of Toppin's drink between them, and counselled Jack to
take him to his wife. That good woman stripped the Hare in a twinkling,
wrapped him in a blanket, and set him before her kitchen fire to watch
his garments dry. Jack meanwhile returned to the saloon, to find Toppin
clothed once more, and curled up on the matting, near the heating
apparatus, munching a biscuit.

"How do you feel now, Top?" he asked, stooping to see his face.

"Pretty bobbish, thanks, Brady," was the answer, and it told that Toppin
was himself again.

"You'll have to look sharp if you want a dip, Brady," called Green.
"Andy'll be round in a minute, I expect."

"Thanks! I'm not bathing to-day," was the response.

Just then Escombe Trevelyan, who was swimming lazily about, landed at
the steps close by, and beckoned Jack to come nearer.

"I want to hear the truth of this affair, Brady," he began in a
confidential undertone. "Did you see it happen?"

"Wh