Whoever it was, was climbing the stairs at a terrific rate. Cateye grasped his crutch and hobbled toward the door. As he did so the door flung open with a bang.
"Cateye!"
"Judd! … Why! You're soaked to the skin and blue with cold! What on earth has happened?"
"I reckon they tried to drown me," replied Judd, stepping in and closing the door. "But I fooled 'em! It was a narrow squeak though. If I hadn't struck a big rock I'd have gone over the falls!"
"But I thought you could swim, Judd?"
"Hump! Me swim? With my feet tied? Say, it was enough to keep my head above water in that current!"
"Your feet tied!" exclaimed Cateye, "You don't mean to tell me the fellows …!"
"Yep, … nope,… It was Benz! … Benz, that's who 'twas!" Judd was quite excited now and shivering with cold. He tried to remove his dripping shirt.
"Let me help you!" Cateye ripped the shirt off. "But surely Benz wouldn't do that! He wouldn't dare for one thing, … and he isn't quite a fool!"
"You'd hardly think it of it, would you?" Judd grinned, water trickling down his forehead. "If I hadn't hit that rock….! Somehow I made a grab as I went by an' caught it. Then I hung for dear life with one hand an' untied my feet with the other. You know, Cateye, I always did grip pretty hard. But just the same I thought that current would rip my arm right off at the shoulder before I got my feet loose! After I'd got free I hung on for a few minutes more till the fellows went on down the river searchin' for me. Then I struck out for shore an' believe me, I hit the high spots comin' home!"