"We must get him up on one of those ledges," said Glen. "He's breathing, but he isn't conscious."
It would have been a hard task under ordinary circumstances, but in their excitement the three scouts made light work of it. One ledge shelved down toward the water making their ascent easier, and from there they managed to lift the injured boy still higher, well out of reach of the water.
Blood was pouring persistently from a wound in the scalp, but with his knowledge of "first aid" Apple was able to stop this quickly by making pressure. They had no bandage material of any description but they took turns in making pressure with their fingers until the blood seemed inclined no longer to flow and the wound showed a tendency to be covered by a firm clot. Matt came to himself for a few minutes, spoke a few half-conscious words and then drifted off again into quiet; but this time it seemed more like the quiet of sleep so they made no effort to disturb him.
"He must have hit his head against something pretty sharp when he dived," said Glen. "I'll go more carefully and just swim gently along the side where the opening ought to be and reach out with my hands for it."
But while they were attending Matt the water had made a very appreciable rise. It would scarcely be possible to feel along the edges now. The water was too high.
"I'll have to swim under water, fellows," said Glen.
"Don't ye do it, Brick," advised Chick-chick. "You don't want to chance Apple and me having to make another rescue, with Matt on our hands already."
"You won't have to make any rescue. I'll swim easily and feel well in front of me."
"I don't like you to try it," said Apple. "We'd be in an awful fix if anything happened to you. There's no danger of the water coming up on these ledges, and it's bound to go down when the rain is over and the creek drops."
"Cheerful lookout, waiting here for that," said Glen. "The folks at the camp will go crazy if we don't show up by night. I've got to get out to carry the news and get help for Matt."