The boy looked toward the breakers, but the sight of them did not seem to terrify him in the least. He worked his way around to the stern, climbed into the scow, and then turned to assist his companion, who was clinging to the oar with one hand, while in the other he held a light double-barreled shotgun.
“Say, Goggles!” said the boy in the boat; “I am just a hundred dollars out of pocket, by this day’s work. Give us your gun. Mine is at the bottom of the lake. I told you your cranky little egg-shell wasn’t seaworthy!”
“The canoe is all right, so far as her seagoing qualities are concerned,” was the reply. “If I hadn’t lost my paddle overboard, she would have taken us ashore without shipping so much as a cupful of water. But we have taken our last ride in her. She will be smashed into kindling-wood on those rocks.”
“Haul him in! haul him in!” cried George, in great excitement. “We shall be smashed into kindling-wood, too, if we don’t get out of this! Now, then,” he continued, as the boy who had been addressed as “Goggles” was dragged aboard, “take an oar, one of you, and pull for your life.”
The boys had no light task before them, and if Goggles had not been a capital oarsman, it is hard to tell how the struggle would have ended.
For a long time the heavy boat seemed to remain stationary. With all their exertions, they could make no perceptible headway; but finally they began to gain a little, and, after half an hour’s hard pulling, they succeeded in beaching the scow about half-way between the promontory and the cabin.
George landed there, because he thought it would be easier to walk a quarter of a mile than it would be to pull the boat that distance against the wind and the waves.
“Now, then,” said Goggles, as he and his companion assisted in securing the boat, so that it would not drift away; “the next thing is something else. A fire to dry our clothes by and something good to eat, would be very acceptable just now. Do you live far from here, my friend?”
“Only a short distance away,” answered George. “If you will go up to my shanty, you can have both the fire and the supper. I can’t promise you that the grub will be very good—”
“Say nothing about that,” interrupted Goggles. “I hope we shall not put your folks to any trouble.”