“Here! here!” exclaimed Dick, running around to the place where Frank was kneeling, holding George in his arms; “give him to me, an’ you run back an’ get the axes.”
The trapper raised his young companion in his arms as easily as though he had been an infant, and started toward the bank at the top of his speed; while Frank, after pulling Brave out of the water, ran back after the axes, as Dick had directed. When he again found the trapper, he was on the bank, kneeling beside George, and engaged in chafing his hands and temples.
“Now, youngster!” he exclaimed, hurriedly, “if you ever worked in your life, work now. Build a fire and throw up a shantee. We must get his wet clothes off him to onct.”
Frank, as may be supposed, worked with a will, knowing that the life of his companion depended on his exertions. In a short time a roaring fire was started, and a rude shelter erected, when George’s wet and frozen clothes were pulled off and hung up to dry, and he was warmly wrapped up in blankets. The rubbing was continued a few moments longer, when they had the satisfaction of seeing him open his eyes and gaze about him. Dick now left the hut. In a short time he returned, with a bunch of herbs in his hand, and soon afterward a cup of strong, nauseating tea was pressed to George’s lips, and he was compelled to swallow the whole of it. He was then enveloped in more blankets, and ordered to “go to sleep.”
While Frank and the trapper were seated beside the fire, talking over the accident, they heard the noise of approaching footsteps on the crust, and presently Archie and Harry hurried up to the hut.
“What’s the matter with George?” inquired the latter, hurriedly, for he saw that Dick and Frank were the only ones at the fire.
“O, he got a duckin’ in the pond, that’s all,” replied the trapper. “Don’t be alarmed. He’s sleepin’ nicely now.”
“We thought somebody was drowned, sure,” said Archie, “for we saw the hole in the ice, and your guns and overcoats scattered about, as though they had been thrown down in a great hurry.”
In about an hour George awoke, and, of course, was immediately assailed with innumerable questions. Among others, his brother asked him why he didn’t swim when he fell into the water.
“Why didn’t I swim!” repeated George; “I couldn’t move. It seemed as though every drop of blood in my body was frozen solid as soon as I touched the water. But where’s the black fox you were going to bring back with you? Did you catch him?”