Just at that moment, with a suddenness which took their breath away, a man appeared on the river bank, coming apparently from the woods, and cried loudly, “Be calm! I will save her!” And, flinging his coat off, he sprang into the water before anyone could say Jack Robinson. He swam out to the form bobbing in the current, her arm thrown up as if for help; grasped that arm and then uttered a long, choking sputter, shoved Eeny-Meeny violently away from him and swam back to shore. They made valiant attempts not to laugh when he crawled out on the bank, dripping and disgusted.
From his appearance he was an Englishman. He was dressed in a sort of golfing suit, with short, baggy trousers and long, checked stockings. He had sandy whiskers which were dripping water in a stream. Such a ludicrous sight he was as he stood there, with his once natty suit all limp and clinging, that, one by one, the boys and girls dissolved into helpless giggles. Uncle Teddy managed to hold on to his composure long enough to explain how it happened that Eeny-Meeny went over the falls in such 103 a spectacular manner. The Englishman stared at him open mouthed.
“Well, really!” he drawled at last in a voice which expressed doubts as to their sanity, and the few who had maintained straight faces so far lost control of themselves.
Uncle Teddy offered the would-be rescuer dry clothing, but he declined, saying he and a friend had pitched a tent only a quarter of a mile up the river and he would hasten back there. The two of them were on a walking trip, he explained, making frequent stops where there was fishing. While his friend had been cooking supper this evening he had strolled off by himself and had come through the woods just in time to see Eeny-Meeny go over the falls. In the failing light he had mistaken her for a real person.
“Oh, I say,” he called back after he had started to take his departure, “if you should happen to run into my friend anywhere would you be so kind as not to mention this–er–mistake of mine? He is something of a joker and I am afraid he would repeat the story where it would cause me some embarrassment.” And he solemnly withdrew, leaving them to indulge their mirth to their hearts’ content.
“Poor old Eeny-Meeny,” said Katherine, “she seems born to be rescued. She must bear a charmed life. It’s a case of ‘Sing Au Revoir but not Good-bye’ 104 when she goes to meet a tragic fate.” She dried Eeny-Meeny off with bunches of grass and stood her up against a tree to guard their “boudoir” for the night.
“Hinpoha,” said Gladys, drawing her aside when they were ready to retire, “what do you think of watching tonight? I’ve never done it and I’m crazy to try it once.”
“You mean sit up all night?” asked Hinpoha.
“Yes,” answered Gladys. “Go off a little way from the others and build a small fire and sit there in the still woods and watch. Nyoda always wanted me to do it some time, and I promised her I would if I got a chance.”
“We’d better ask Aunt Clara about it first,” said Hinpoha.