He turned to give one end to Dick, and then made the discovery that the latter had fainted from exhaustion.
"Poor fellow!" he muttered, and caught the youth just as he was sliding into the lake.
It was no easy task to get Dick on board of the freight steamer. But it was accomplished at last, and, still unconscious, he was carried to a stateroom and made as comfortable as possible.
Peterson was but little the worse for the adventure, and his chief anxiety was for his friend Bragin, of whom, so far, nothing had been heard.
The coming of Dick on board of the Captain Rollow was viewed with much astonishment by two of the passengers on the freighter.
These two persons were Arnold Baxter and his son Dan.
The two had quite recovered from the injuries received in the landslide in Colorado, and it may be as well to state right here that they were bound East in order to carry out a new plot which the elder Baxter had hatched up against the Rovers.
What that plot was will be disclosed as our story proceeds.
"Father, it is Dick Rover," cried Dan Baxter, after having seen the unconscious one brought on board.
"Hush, Dan! I know it," whispered Arnold Baxter.