"And then we just pulled," put in Nat. "Wow! It was a corker, Jack!
How did you think of it?"
"It just happened to come to me. Say didn't they come down off that bank sailing, though?"
"I pulled as if I was landing a ten pound pickerel," said Fred. "I wonder who I had."
"Didn't stop to notice," Jack said, as he slipped on his coat. "They all came together. What a splash they made!"
By this time the three conspirators had crawled up the bank. They were so soaking wet that it was hard to walk. Their shoes "squashed" out water at every step. They sat down on the grass, took them off, and removed some of their garments, which they proceeded to wring out.
"Better hurry up," advised Jack, as he finished dressing. "Lecture begins in about two hours, and you're quite a way from home."
"I'll—" began Ed Simpson, when Adrian stopped him with a gesture.
"Sorry we have to leave you," Sam went on. "If you'd sent your cards we would have had the water warmed for you. Hope you didn't find it too chilly."
The three cronies did not reply, but went on trying to get as much water as possible from their garments. Leaving them sitting on the grass, as the afternoon waned into evening, the swimmers hurried back to the academy.
When the roll was called at the evening lecture, which was at an early hour, Jack and his friends replied "here!"