“I notice that you don’t get your head up above the gunwale very often,” Alex laughed.
“Look here, boys,” Captain Joe said, pointing out of the cabin window. “Here’s a place where the river widens without any good excuse for doing so. I talked to Clay about that, and his idea was that an underground stream runs in in this vicinity. Now, your eyes are better than mine. Look upstream and see if you can observe any current which might be made by the flowing in of a subterranean river.”
“You’re all right, Captain Joe,” Case exclaimed. “You can’t forget that lost channel any more than we can.”
“I don’t know whether there’s a lost channel or not,” the captain replied, “but I do know that there’s a fresh supply of water coming into this stream right about here.”
Case took a field glass and looked up the stream.
“There surely is a current starting in close to that bank,” he finally said. “I can see sticks and bubbles popping up from the bottom. There’s a spring there, all right.”
Alex took the glass and studied the river for a long time. Then he seized Captain Joe by the shoulder and pointed.
“Say,” he said, “there’s a nude body coming up out of that eddy Case saw. You can see it under the water, drifting down this way.”
The boy dropped the glass clattering on the deck and sprang into the water.
“Here, here, boy! Come back!” cried Captain Joe.