rough the mud. He had
made about ten steps when his boot stuck fast, he reeled and fell. The
water was less than six inches deep but his arms were wet to the skin
as far as the elbows, and the icy water got into his boots and drenched
his feet.

Stuart picked him up without comment and led him back to the boat.
Bivens was about to climb in when the lawyer spoke quickly:

"You can't sit down now. You've got to keep your body in motion or
you'll freeze. Take hold of the stern of the boat and shove her."

Muttering incoherent curses the little man obeyed while his friend
walked in front, pulling on the bow line.

In fifteen minutes they reached the marsh and began the dreary tramp of
two hours until the tide should rise high enough to float their boat
again.

"Why can't we walk along this marsh all the way to where the yacht
lies?" Bivens asked, fretfully. "We can fire a gun and the doctor can
help us on board."

"We can't go without the boat. The marsh is a string of islands cut by
three creeks. The doctor has no way to get to us. Both tenders are
gone."

Stuart kept Bivens moving just fast enough to maintain the warmth of
his body without dangerous exhaustion.

The wait was shorter than expected. The tide suddenly ceased to run ebb
and began to come in. The reason was an ominous one. The wind had
hauled squarely into the north and increased its velocity to forty
miles an hour and each moment the cold grew more terrible. Stuart found
the little boat afloat on the flood tide, jumped in without delay and
began his desperate battle against wind and tide.

It was absolutely necessary for Bivens to keep his body in motion, so
Stuart gave him an oar, and ordered him to get on his knees and help
shove her ahead. He knew it was impossible for him to keep his feet.

Bivens tried to do as he was told and made a mess of it. He merely
succeeded in shoving the boat around in a circle, preventing Stuart
from making any headway.

"What's the matter?" Bivens yelled above the howl of the wind. "You're
pushing against me, just spinning around. Why don't you keep her
straight?"

Stuart saw they could never make headway by that method, turned and
shot back into the marsh.

"Get out!" he shouted sternly. "You can walk along the edge--I can
shove her alone."

Bivens grumbled, but did as he was ordered.

"Don't you leave the edge of that marsh ten feet!" Stuart shouted,
cheerfully. "I think we'll make it now."

"All right