The man who was clinging to the overturned boat had begun to swim, pushing it toward the shore, some distance below the mass of water reeds behind which they had been concealed.
Hodge paid no attention to boat or man, but he waited with the greatest anxiety for Frank to come to the surface. With the paddle, he moved the canoe somewhat nearer the spot where Merry had dived beneath the water.
Frank came up directly, and he had a hold upon the drowning lad, but Welch had twisted his legs about Frank with a grip that hampered Frank’s movements. In vain Merry tried to break away. It seemed that Welch had fastened upon him with a death grip.
“Can I help you?” asked Hodge, anxiously, as he saw Merry struggling in the water, sometimes sinking beneath the surface. “What’s the matter?”
“This fellow—has—his legs—twisted about mine!” panted Frank. “Confound him! He wants to drown us both!”
Bart worked nearer with the canoe.
“Hit him on the head, Frank!” he cried. “Hit him quick and hard! Don’t let him pull you under like that!”
But Merry fought till he broke away from the half-unconscious Welch, which caused him to utter an exclamation of satisfaction.
“I’m all right now,” he said.
“Can you get him ashore?”