The guide laughed harshly.
"Swim it? Why, kid a boat wouldn't live in that boiling pot for two minutes. What could a mere man hope to do against that demon?"
"It is my opinion that a man would do better for a few moments against the water than a boat would. I think I can do it."
"No, if anybody does that kind of a trick it will be Jim Nance."
"Do you swim?"
"Like a chunk of marble. Living on the plains all a fellow's life doesn't usually make a swimmer of him."
"I thought so. That makes me all the more determined to do this thing."
"Somebody hold me or I'll be doing it myself," cried Chunky.
No one paid any attention to the fat boy's remark.
"I can't permit it, Tad," said the Professor, with an emphatic shake of the head. "No, you could never make it. It would be suicide."