his left hand
started swimming once more. A dozen more strokes were accomplished
slowly, painfully, and then, as encouraging shouts came from shore, he
felt the body above him stir into life, heard a low cry of terror in his
ear, and then--they were sinking together, Clausen and he, struggling
there beneath the surface! Clausen had his arm about Joel's neck and was
pulling him down--down! And just as his lungs seemed upon the point of
bursting the grasp relaxed around his neck, the body began to sink and
Joel to rise!

With a deafening noise as of rushing water in his ears, Joel reached,
caught a handful of cloth, and struggled, half drowned himself, to the
surface. And then some one caught him by the chin--and he knew no more
until he awoke as from a bad dream to find himself lying in the sun on
the narrow beach, while several faces looked down into his.

"Did you get him?" he asked weakly.

"Yep," answered Outfield West, with something that sounded like a sob
in his voice. "He's over there. He's all right. Don't get up," he
continued, as Joel tried to move. "Stay where you are. The fellows are
bringing a boat, and we'll take you both back in it."

"All right," answered Joel. "But I guess I'll just look around a bit."
And he sat up. At a little distance a group among which Joel recognized
the broad back of Professor Gibbs were still working over Clausen. But
even as he looked Joel was delighted to see Clausen's legs move and hear
his weak voice speaking to the professor. Then the boat was rowed in,
the occupants panting with their hurried pull from the boathouse, and
Joel clambered aboard, disdaining the proffered help of West and
others, and Clausen was lifted to a seat in the bow.

On the way up river Joel told how it happened, West throwing in an eager
word here and there, and Clausen in a low whisper explaining that the
shell had struck on a sunken rock or snag when passing the island, and
had begun to sink almost immediately.

"And Cloud?" asked Professor Gibbs. There was no reply from either Joel
or Clausen or-West. Only one of the rowers answered coldly:

"He's safe. I saw him on the path near the Society Building. He was
running toward Warren." A silence followed. Then--

"You've never learned to swim, Clausen?"

"No, sir."

"But it is the rule that no boy is allowed on the river who can not
swim. How is that?"

"I--I said I could, sir."

"Humph! Your lie came near to costing you dear, Clausen."