n either
side of the ground over which the lads were making their way. Hector
had begun to cry out when he saw how high the water was.

"It won't wash us away yet, never fear," exclaimed Harry, dragging him
along. It was almost up to their knees, however, before they reached
the ladder.

"You go up first," said Harry. "Be quick about it; I'll follow."

Hector began to climb the ladder much slower than Harry liked, for as he
looked round he saw a huge wave, far wider, though not so high as that
which first appeared, roaring and leaping as it came down the river.
Trees and fences, which had hitherto withstood the flood, gave way
before it.

"Quick, quick," cried Harry, shoving Hector up, "it will be upon us in a
few seconds, and may carry the ladder away."

On it came, surging up against the walls of the house. Reggy caught
hold of Hector's hand and handed him up on the branch.

"We must get higher up than this," he shouted; "look there! look there!"

Harry again turned round. The house seemed literally to melt away
before the flood. The water rose around it, and then, as the wave
rushed on, the fragments of the walls and roof were seen floating on
mixed with articles of furniture, chairs, tables, and bedsteads. Now
the wave surged against the tree. Harry had just time to spring on to
the branch, and to secure the ladder by a rope when the lower end was
lifted, and it would have been carried away by the flood had it not thus
fortunately been secured. The lads watched the various articles as they
floated by, hopelessly lost, for in a few minutes they would be driven
by the current against the trunks of trees, or the rocks, and would be
dashed to pieces.

By climbing out to the end of a branch Harry was able to see where his
father and uncle were standing, and to make a signal to them that he and
his cousins were safe. This must greatly have relieved the mind of the
captain and his brother, though they probably still considered the lads
in greater danger than they themselves were inclined to believe that
they were.

Several trees had been uprooted and carried along by the torrent, and
theirs might share the same fate. Harry returned again to the end of
the branch, and found that his father and uncle had gone away to look
after the party on the hill.

Harry now proposed that they should get higher up, for the water had
already risen several feet above the ground, and might in a short time
be up to the