Clay whistled and called to the dog, but for a long time there was no response. The mystery was, for a moment, baffling, and then it was cleared in a breath.
Captain Joe’s voice came from down the river in a succession of deep growls, followed by a different sort of snarling.
“That’s Captain Joe, all right,” cried Case. “He must have leaped into the river and struck out after Alex. That’s it, I guess.”
“Never did in the world,” Clay insisted. “If he is with Alex he sprang into the rowboat when no one saw him. That is one of his old tricks, as he wants to be in the limelight most of the time.”
“Is that Joe?” called Clay, making a trumpet of his hands and calling at the top of his voice. “Is Joe there with you, Alex?”
“Sure,” came back from below. “He is here, all right, and he’s got a baby bear! Can’t you let the Rambler down a little? I’m shipwrecked on a ledge of rock. River turns here and I bunted into it and caught hold. If you don’t take all night to get here, we’ll capture the bear. Captain Joe has him by the leg, I guess.”
“Do you think he has a bear?” asked Gran, in a tone of disbelief.
“Just like him,” Case laughed. “You can’t get Alex into any scrape he can’t get out of. If he should fall into a volcano he’d find an ice box there. Oh, you needn’t laugh, Gran! That is just the kind of a boy he is. We thought we had lost him at Para, Brazil, and he came back lugging Captain Joe, and with a mob at his heels. Now he is cast adrift on the Columbia river and finds a baby bear. But the question now is, how is he going to get back to the Rambler? I’ll bet the rowboat is busted all to flinders!”
“Few of your prophecies of evil have come true lately, Case,” laughed Clay, busy with the motors, “so you may as well quit doing the prophet stunt! Now, if you will come here and hold a searchlight under this frame, I’ll put this burr on and start the machine.”
Case did as requested, and Gran hastened into the cabin to put the last touches on the bacon which was frying in a skillet at the top of the heater. He even grumbled a little because the supper was being delayed by the accident which had broken the rowboat line.