“O, yes! I am not frightened now.”
“You are a cool one! that’s a fact,” said Bob. “Now, don’t kick and thrash about any more, for that makes it hard for me to keep you afloat. Remember, that every portion of your body that is out of the water helps to sink you, while that which is in the water helps to buoy you up. So keep your arms by your side, and throw back your head. That will give you the best chance to breathe. They’ll send a boat after us directly.”
“I wish they would do it now,” said the boy, who implicitly obeyed every one of Bob’s orders. “If they let us stay in this current much longer they will find us at New Orleans. I don’t want to go there unless I can go in my boat.”
“Do you belong on the steamer?”
“Yes; I am the cub pilot!”
Saving Georgie Ackerman’s Life.
“I say, George!” shouted a voice.
The boys looked up when they heard the hail, and saw that the strong current had already carried them a hundred and fifty yards below the steamer, whose bow was swinging around toward the landing again. On her hurricane deck were a group of men, one of whom was the captain. He it was who had hailed the young pilot.
“I say, George!” repeated the captain, “who is that in the water with you?”