Just as Stacy's feet shot upward Tad let go the rope, dropping the loop neatly over Master Brown's left foot and drawing taut instantly. Chunky, thus caught, sprawled between the cypress knees and the black pool, looking more like a giant spider than anything else.
"Ow, wow! wow! In the name of goodness!" shrieked Stacy.
"Keep cool, if you can!" Tad yelled to the frightened victim. Then, to the other boys:
"Get him out as quickly as you can, fellows! You'll have to be lively now! Something is wrong with our comrade."
"What is it, where is he?" cried the boys.
"There, under the tree at the end of my rope. Be quick. There's something down there. Be careful that you don't get in, too. I've got him fast, but he may squirm loose."
Tad had snubbed the rope around a tree and now began hauling in. Chunky's legs were spread wide apart, and Tad hauled him up little by little until the fat boy's legs were on either side of one of the cypress knees, the knee pressing against his body. Chunky could be hauled no further unless he were to be split in two. But Butler was satisfied that the fat boy was out of the reach of anything that might be down in the pool.
Lilly was the first to reach the scene, followed in great strides by Professor Zepplin and the other two boys. Now the problem of getting both the boy's legs on one side of the cypress knee was presented to them.
"Get—get me out of here! I've got a rush of blood to the head," pleaded Chunky.
"You are fortunate if you don't get more than that," snapped Billy Lilly.