ere receiving, rushed
helter-skelter into the river, throwing themselves upon the staggering
Harriet. They snatched her up, carrying her ashore despite her
struggles and protests. They laid her down on the packs, each trying
to do something for their companion whom they had believed to be lost.

"For goodness' sake! what is the matter?" demanded Harriet, sitting up.

"Lie still, dear," urged Miss Elting. "You will be all right in a few
moments."

"All right? There is nothing the matter with me, except that I'm wet
and cold." Harriet got up and shook herself, gazing anxiously at her
companions. "What is it, girls? Tell me!"

"Oh, Harriet, don't you know?" breathed Hazel.

"No, I don't. You are all here, aren't you?" she demanded, with a
quick glance about her.

"Yes, now we are," nodded the guardian. "Don't you understand? We
thought you had gone down with the bridge."

"Well, I did go down, but not with the bridge. What of it?"

"We thought you were dead," continued Miss Elting, her voice shaking.

Harriet looked from one to the other of her friends. "Why, you poor
dears, no wonder you looked so woe-begone. Now that it is all over, I
don't blame you for thinking so."

"Well, I swum!" muttered Janus, combing out his whiskers with the
spread fingers of his right hand.

"So did I," laughed Harriet. "That's why I'm here."

"Tell us how you escaped. Can't you see, we are hardly able to believe
that it is really you?" was Miss Elting's excited reply.

"It's myself, and no other, as Jane would say. After you had left me I
ran back to the wagon to get the blanket and cushions we had left
there. I knew the fire was near me, but I thought I had time enough to
get away from it. Suddenly I felt the bridge giving way. I was close
to the opening into which the horses fell when things began to happen,
and I made a long, desperate dive into the river, hoping to get out
from under the bridge before it fell on me. I remember seeing a great
shower of sparks falling around me as I shot through the air. I
wondered if it were the bridge that was falling with me. Then I struck
the water. I swam under the water with the current as fast as I could,
then when I thought I had gone far enough, to make it safe to rise, I
did so. I don't recall what happened after that. I must have been hit
by something, or else bumped into a timber when I rose to the surface.
It is a wonder I wasn't drowned. When I came to m