CHAPTER XXI.
BORDINE AND SHANKS.
The bullet that Andrew Barkswell sent hustling after the fleeing Bordine went wide of its mark.
The young engineer was moving at such a rate of speed, however, that it was wholly impossible for him to halt.
He knew not of the near proximity of the creek, and in consequence went headlong into the foaming current. His head came in contact with a jagged rock that partially stunned him so that for the moment he sank beneath its surface.
The swift current buoyed him up, and bore him swiftly from the vicinity.
Dazed and nearly strangled the engineer struggled to save himself from drowning. In the endeavor his hands came in contact with a floating plank, which the high water had floated from the bank.
He grasped the plank with a cry of joy. He felt that there was little danger of his drowning with such a buoy to cling to.
On down the current swept plank and man. At times the float touched the shore, but in such places the bank was steep and Bordine dared not make the attempt to land.
Presently, after floating perhaps a mile, the glimmer of a light filled his eyes.