"Grab him!" yelled Andy, but his brother did not need the advice. Leaning over, he caught the half-conscious form of the Western lad, just as Billy was sinking again.
"Can you pull him in alone?" cried Andy, who was still laboring at the oars.
"Yes, you keep the boat steady. I don't want an upset," responded his brother, and he got a firmer grip on his chum's wet clothing. Then with a mighty heave, pulling him over the bow of the craft, Frank got the half-drowned lad out of the water.
CHAPTER IX
THE INVITATION
"Is he dead, Frank? Is he breathing? Did we get him out in time?" cried Andy, highly excited, as he dropped the oars and began to make his way forward to where his brother was holding Billy. "Do you think we can bring him around?"
"Say, don't ask so many questions," snapped Frank, not because he was cross, but because he realized that seconds counted and he wanted to do all he could for the half-drowned lad. "Get back to your oars," he added. "First thing you know we'll be stuck in the mud bank, or upset in the current. Hold the boat steady, and get over there where it's quieter. Then we'll see what we can do."
Andy obeyed, and while Frank made the now unconscious lad more comfortable, the young Racer boy pulled with all his strength toward a quieter place in the eddy. Soon the boat was floating easily.
"Lively now!" commanded Frank. "Help me turn him over to drain some of the water out of his lungs. Then we'll make a sort of pillow of our coats and rest him, face down, on that."
Frank talked while he worked, and soon Billy's lungs were drained of the water that kept the air from entering them. Next he was placed with his stomach on an upraised roll of coats, across one of the seats, and a little later Frank began using artificial respiration, by working Billy's arms up and down over his head, while Andy pressed on the lower portion of his chest to compress it. The boys had studied first-aid work, and knew the method to be used in restoring half-drowned persons.