CHAPTER XXVIII

A RESCUE

"OVERBOARD with you, and help!"

"Yes, yes, Bob; I'm coming!"

Sandy seemed to be given a new lease of life. Hope brought fresh powers of endurance. Without an instant's delay he slid over the end of the canoe, and into the flood.

He was a swimmer, like every young pioneer who went into the wilderness with his people; and, as soon as Sandy put his shoulder to the now-lightened canoe, why of course its progress toward the near-by point of land was considerably quickened.

It was all right! They could count on being able to make land, where the boat might be repaired, and their own flagging energies restored, ere they again breasted the swollen stream in the effort to reach the home shore.

Now they could touch bottom with their feet. After that it was easy; so that soon the boat was dragged up on the land, safe from the swirling waters.

Sandy tried to give a shout to signify how glad he felt; but there was not breath enough left in his lungs. All he could do was to sink down on the friendly shore, and pant like a winded deer.

Bob followed suit. He was as exhausted as his brother; for his recent efforts had been simply tremendous. And, as he lay on the shore, there must have come to his heart that warm glow so natural to victory, when one has fought the good fight, and won.

But not for long did Bob stay there on the ground. He knew that there was much to be done, since they were soaked to the skin, and shivering. Besides, the canoe must be emptied of the water it contained and dragged up higher; for no one could say to what limit the flood might attain ere it began to fall.

And Sandy, seeing his intention, also dragged his weary frame erect.

"What ought we do first?" he asked.

"Take hold, and we will empty out the canoe. Then let us try to make some sort of shelter from the rain; after which a fire would be the next best thing."

Sandy worked hard. He was cold, and his teeth rattled together in spite of the great gratitude that filled his heart over their almost miraculous preservation. The sooner they got that campfire started, the better for them both.

He went to work as on the other occasion, at the time they were preparing against the coming of this storm. Only now he had to accept just such substitutes as the island afforded.

Fortunately it was wooded, so that they need not lack for material. Some of the rocks offered a chance to build up side walls, over which the roof might slope, to shed the rain that was still coming down.

It took time to accomplish all this, but promised to repay their efforts. When the shelter was in a fair way toward being finished, Bob set to work starting a fire. Luckily he kept his tinder in a little waterproof box, held within his bag; and it had not suffered from his immersion in the river.

An adept with flint and steel, he quickly had the sparks flying, and a blaze began to spring up. This was fed with bits of dry wood, torn from the heart of a partly-dead tree, until there was enough fire to seize upon anything offered in the way of fuel.

"How good that feels!" declared the shivering Sandy, holding out his hands toward the leaping flames.

"I agree with you," answered Bob, smiling just as of yore, as if the terrible events of the last half hour were only a dream.

They cowered there under their shelter while their garments steamed in the now genial heat. With every passing minute both boys were feeling better. Sandy even began to cast covetous glances toward the buffalo meat, which was lying close at hand, as though his customary appetite had once more started to let him know growing boys must be often fed.

Seeing this, Bob nodded his head. He was feeling drowsy, for the natural reaction after his recent tremendous exertions had set in; and this was augmented by the delicious warmth of the fine fire.

So Sandy started to find a lot of reeds that would answer for toasting forks, on which bits of meat could be brought to a delightful stage when placed close to the blaze.

"It's stopped raining, Bob!" he declared, as he returned after his foraging expedition with all the reeds needed.

"I hope that is the end of it," declared the other, though he poked his head out from his shelter and surveyed the lowering heavens doubtingly.

"Where do you think all this water is coming from?" asked Sandy, looking across the broad river to the shore where, further down, the new settlement stood; and no doubt wondering how they were ever going to cross that raging flood that was carrying hundreds of trees on its bosom.

"Oh, you forget that two rivers flow into this at Fort Pitt. Besides, there are other streams, all bank-full. It has been a terrible rain. Never in Virginia did we ever see anything like it."

"How fortunate that there are hills all along the Ohio, where the flood cannot reach. No wonder Colonel Boone warned us never to build our cabins low down to the edge of the water. Why, Bob, just think what would have happened now had we foolishly done so!"

"Yes," remarked the other, as he cut off several pieces of meat to toast at the end of the reeds Sandy had tossed him. "After this, perhaps some one I know will have more respect for the simple old medicine man who foretold just this flood. How about that, Sandy?"

"He knew, sure enough," admitted the other, readily; "but just as you said, I believe he guessed what was coming from the looks of the sky. The longer it held off the worse it would be when it arrived. Say, this is what I call comfort, Bob. Think what a difference between our present condition, and when we were fighting for our lives out yonder," and Sandy shuddered as he cast a quick glance toward the spot where the two currents clashed after skirting the length of the island.

After a while they were able to begin eating. Perhaps there might have seemed a sameness about this fare to a modern boy; but these hardy pioneer lads never dreamed of complaining. Indeed, their hearts were now filled with thanksgiving over their recent miraculous escape, and there was no room for regrets. Besides, they were not used to luxuries in those days.

Sandy was drawing a long breath, as though really unable to finish all the food he had cooked, when he saw his brother start up. Bob was holding his head in a listening attitude.

"What did you think you heard?" exclaimed the other, in alarm.

"I must have been mistaken," said Bob, smiling; "for it would be next to impossible for any one to be out here on this island right now."

"But did you think you heard some one call?" persisted Sandy.

"Yes, it sounded like a shout. But no doubt it was some hawk that has found shelter, like ourselves, on the island. If we watch we will likely see him fly away, now that the rain has stopped."

Bob had hardly spoken when both brothers half sprang to their feet.

"It was a cry for help!" exclaimed Sandy, looking at his brother, as usual expecting Bob to take the initiative in the emergency.

"Some one is in trouble!" said the other, "and it is up to us to see if we can do anything for him. Remember how we would have been crazy with joy had there been a helping hand held out when all seemed lost!"

"There it comes again! And from the same place! Whoever it is, he cannot be going past the island."

"No," cried Bob, "I think he must have been thrown ashore among all that trash at the upper end, and, unable to help himself, is in danger of drowning there, caught in the piled up tree-tops. Come, we must get there and lend a hand."

"It may be an Indian, and a hostile," reminded Sandy.

"I do not think so, for the shout seemed to call for 'help!' But even if it is an Indian, surely you have reason for knowing that all Indians are not cruel and merciless. Remember the gratitude of Blue Jacket. Come, Sandy!"

Bob hardly needed to say all this, for Sandy would not have held back. Together they made their way along the shore. It was not easy travelling, for the bushes grew thickly and interfered with their passage; but Bob led the way, and, accustomed to pushing through the woods, he surmounted all difficulties, Sandy coming close at his heels.

In this fashion they finally came to the head of the island, where the floating trunks of dead trees, some with branches, too, formed a sort of barrier, which the force of the flood had swept up on the point.

"There, look yonder, Bob! I see him!" cried Sandy, the instant they arrived.

There was indeed a clinging figure out amid that mass of floating timber. The unknown seemed to be endeavoring to crawl through the network surrounding him; but his strength had apparently reached its last notch.

Bob never hesitated, but started out over the logs. Now and then he had to exercise considerable care lest he slip, and once more plunge into the roaring flood.

"Stand where you are, Sandy," he called to his brother, who had followed him. "Be ready to help when I give the word. I think I can get hold of him, and slew him around to you. Take care, and keep your footing!"

Evidently Bob knew just how to carry out his hastily-arranged plan, for in a brief time he had gripped the unknown by the arm, and was hauling him out of and over the wreckage that surrounded him.

So by slow degrees they managed between them all to get ashore. Here the man collapsed. He was no doubt overcome by the joyful sense of safety, when he had apparently given himself up for lost.

"We must get him down to our little camp," said Bob, as he looked at the exhausted man.

"Who can he be!" questioned Sandy; for the bearded white face was totally unfamiliar to either of them.

"I do not know. Take hold of his feet, while I try to hold his shoulders. Between us we can carry him, step by step."

They had made a passage in going up, and it would have been easier returning had they not been burdened with the senseless stranger; but, by resting frequently, the two boys finally managed to attain their end, and the man was laid alongside the fire.

They started to rub the hands of the sufferer, to restore circulation, for he was evidently chilled to the bone, as well as utterly exhausted.

No doubt the genial warmth of the fire had considerable to do with it; but the efforts of the boys counted as something, and presently they were rewarded by seeing the man's eyes open.

"He's alive, Bob! We're going to bring him around all right!" exclaimed Sandy.

In five minutes the man could lie there and hold out his trembling hands to the fire. In ten he was sitting up, gnawing hungrily at a piece of roasted meat Sandy had handed him, as though he knew that in this way he would regain some of that strength which he had lost when engulfed in the flood.

And sitting there, watching him curiously, the two lads never once suspected how again their lucky star was in the ascendent; and that in saving this stranger from a watery grave they were bringing happiness home to those they loved so dearly.