There was the sound of finality about the boat builder's voice, kindly as it was.
"Cast off," ordered Driggs, taking the tiller. "Tune up that engine and give us some headway."
Clara Marshall was thoughtful enough to run back and get a chair, which she brought down to the float and placed behind Dalzell.
"Sit down," she urged.
"Thank you," said Dan gratefully, "but I didn't need a chair."
Nevertheless the high school girls persuaded him to be seated.
"I—-I wasn't drowned, you know," Dan protested as he sat down.
"No; but you got a little water into your lungs," responded one of the girls. "I heard Mr. Driggs tell Dick Prescott that, as nearly as they could guess, you opened your mouth a trifle just before Dick and Dave reached you and freed you from that awful trap. Mr. Driggs said that if you had been under water two minutes longer there would have been a different story to tell."
"I wonder how long I was under water?" mused Dan.
"Long enough to drown, Danny Grin," replied Clara Marshall gravely.