"Wh-why didn't I do it?" muttered Phil. "I didn't th-think quick
enough."

He saw Grant's head appear above the surface and beheld the Texan
striking out toward Rackliff with strong strokes that sent him forging
through the water. The gathering crowd on the bridge began to cheer
the rescuer.

"Of course!" whispered Phil savagely. "It's another feather in his
cap! He'll help the chap out of the drink, and everybody in town will
say it was a nervy and daring piece of heroism. Oh, I'm slow! I lost
my chance!"

At that moment his bitterness toward Grant was so intense that he felt
he could unhesitatingly go to any extreme to injure him. His lips
curled back from his teeth in a semblance of a snarl; he watched the
Texan reach the spot where Rackliff's head had an instant before
disappeared from view, saw him likewise plunge beneath the surface, and
beheld him rise, farther down the stream, with the still weakly
struggling fellow secured by a grip upon his coat collar at the back of
the neck. Deftly the rescuer swung Herbert round, face upward, upon
his back, and, holding him thus, with mouth and nose above the water,
began swimming toward the nearest shore.

The rapidly increasing crowd of spectators on the bridge cheered still
more vociferously.

"It's getting to be a regular sus-stunt of his, this rescuing people
from drowning," muttered Springer. "Hear them yell! Bah! What fools
people are! Why didn't I think quick enough to get ahead of him!"

A short distance below the bridge Foxhall was wading out of the water,
disdaining assistance. Snead, however, did not spurn the hands
extended to him when he came floundering and gurgling toward dry ground.

A dozen persons were running down toward the point for which Rodney
Grant was heading, all eager to take some part in the exciting rescue.
Of the boys who had rushed to the scene, Springer was the only one who
remained on the bridge. He waited until he beheld Grant stand on his
feet in shallow water and wade toward the bank, bearing Rackliff in his
arms.

"I don't propose to hang around and see them slobber over him," he
whispered hoarsely; "so I think I'll beat it, get a move on, dig."

As he turned away his eyes fell on a folded sheet of paper lying at his
feet, and within three feet of the paper he discovered a pocket
notebook. He picked up the paper and the notebook.

"Some one of that bunch dropped these," he decided. "Oh, but they were
luck