Stallings plunged his pony into the current and swam for the other side. Reaching there, he galloped at full speed toward the point for which Tad seemed to be aiming.
The foreman rode into the water until it was up to his saddle and where the pony was obliged to hold its head high to avoid drowning.
There the foreman waited until the lad had gotten within roping distance.
"Turn in a little," directed Stallings. "You'll hit that eddy and land out in the middle, if you don't."
A moment more and the foreman's lariat slipped away from the circle it had formed above his head.
Tad held an arm aloft, and the loop dropped neatly over it. Stallings pulled it and Tad grasped the rope after the loop had tightened about his arm.
"Haul away," he directed.
The foreman turned his pony about and slowly towed cook and boy ashore.
The cowboys, observing that Tad was being hauled in, headed for the shore. Reaching it, they put spurs to their ponies and came down to the scene at a smashing gait.
Leaping off, they sprang into the water, picking up Tad and the Chinaman and staggering ashore with them.