“Oh—you!” exclaimed Lance, balked for words with which to express his contempt.
The Belding car was quickly out of sight. The boys and girls gathered around the spot where Hebe Pocock had met with his accident. Nobody could help him, and he began to be in extreme pain. His head was under water a good deal of the time; but the piece of rubber pipe allowed him to breathe, and Mike, or the other smaller boy from the Four Corners, held Hebe’s face above water as much as possible.
Chet and Otto were not gone an hour; but it seemed, as Lance said, “a creation of time.” Pocock was pretty weak when the rope was brought. Meanwhile the chauffeur had run the big car along the road and backed it near the rock and headed in the proper direction. They passed the heavy cable around the boulder and then wrapped it around the car so that the strain would not come in any one place and perhaps do the car damage.
“You bigger boys get in there,” said Laura, “and take Hebe under the arms. As soon as the rock moves pull him out. For the rope may slip and the rock slide back deeper into the water than it is now. That would kill him, perhaps.”
“You’re right, Laura,” said her brother, gravely. “We’ll take care.”
Chet and Lance went to the aid of the unfortunate youth. Otto managed the rope. The chauffeur started his engine and got into his seat.
“Ready! start easily,” called Laura, when the boys were placed directly behind Hebe.
The car lurched forward; the rope strained and creaked; then—slowly but surely—the rock began to move.
“Easy, boys!” commanded Laura.
Hebe shrieked with pain. The boulder rolled and the rope slipped. But the two boys darted back into deeper water, dragging the victim of the accident with them.