When the father got up with them, Julia was reviving.
"You'd better get into their boat," said Ethan to Val; "the old man's not fit to go alone down-stream, you know. You won't mind?"
"No," said Val; "but let us keep close together."
"Of course."
"She would come," Mr. Otway kept saying, helplessly. "I told her my river days were over. She would come."
"How did the accident happen?" said Val, keeping eyes and ears intent upon the boat just in front.
Ethan bent to the oar, looking back now and then to see that Val was close. Julia lay motionless, with Ethan's coat over her.
"We must go as fast as we can," he called out. "We'll be able to get some brandy at Leigh's Landing, and a trap."
"How did it happen?" Val repeated.