e rapid they were whirled, as if contemptuously, into
an eddy. Shank was there, as deep as he dared venture. He even pushed
in up to the arm-pits, and, catching his comrade by the hair, dragged
him to bank.

"O Charlie, I've saved ye!" he exclaimed, as his friend crawled out and
sat down.

"Ay, an' you've saved the kitten too!" replied his friend, examining the
poor animal.

"It's dead," said Shank; "dead as mutton."

"No, only stunned. No wonder, poor beast!"

With tender care the rescuer squeezed the water from the fur of the
rescued. Then, pulling open his vest and shirt, he was about to place
the kitten in his bosom to warm it.

"No use doin' that," said Leather. "You're as wet an' nigh as cold as
itself."

"That's true. Sit down here," returned Brooke, in a tone of command
which surprised his comrade. "Open your shirt."

Again Shank obeyed wonderingly. Next moment he gave a gasp as the cold,
wet creature was thrust into his warm bosom.

"It makes me shiver all over," he said.

"Never mind," replied his friend coolly, as he got up and wrung the
water out of his own garments.

"It's beginning to move, Charlie," said Shank, after a few minutes.

"Give it here, then."

The creature was indeed showing feeble symptoms of revival, so Brooke--
whose bosom was not only recovering its own heat, but was beginning to
warm the wet garments--thrust it into his own breast, and the two
friends set off homeward at a run.

At the nearest house they made inquiry as to the owner of the kitten,
but failed to find one. Our hero therefore resolved to carry it home.
Long before that haven was reached, however, his clothes were nearly
dry, and the rescued one was purring sweetly, in childlike innocence--
all the horrors, sufferings, and agonies of the past forgotten,
apparently, in the enjoyment of the present.

CHAPTER TWO.

THE SHIPWRECK.

We have no intention of carrying our reader on step by step through all
the adventures and deeds of Charlie Brooke. It is necessary to hasten
over his boyhood, leaving untold the many battles fought, risks run, and
dangers encountered.

He did not cut much of a figure at the village school--though he did his
best, and was fairly successful--but in the playground he reigned
supreme. At football, cricket, gymnastics, and, ultimately, at
swimming, no one could come near him. This was partly owing to his
great physical strength, for, as time passed by he shot upward