“Well! I’ll go if you will,” replied Harry. And in the midst of the general excitement and confusion, these two enterprising young men began to undress.
Before either was prepared for a plunge, however, a third young man, who had just arrived on the spot and learned that a boy was drowned, leaped out of his clothes as if by magic; while the word ran through the crowd, “Percy Lanman! It’s Percy Lanman! He can get him!”
“Take away that rail!” shouted a clear, ringing voice.
The rail, which somebody had brought, and which Sellick was poking ineffectually about in the deep place where he had seen Jack go down, was quickly withdrawn; and the owner of the voice, white and gleaming as a living statue, sprang from the bank; a plash and a flash, and he had disappeared in the sparkling water.
He was gone about fifteen seconds, which appeared almost as many minutes to some of those who watched with intense interest for his reappearance. At length he came up again, shook the water from his dripping head and winked it from his eyes, and looked about him while he took breath.
“If he can’t find him we can’t,” observed Len, starting to put on his clothes again.
“I’m going in, anyhow,” replied Harry, moving towards the water.
“If you do I will,” said Len.
“No discoveries?” cried Sellick, anxiously.
Percy did not reply, but thrusting his head once more beneath the surface, swam slowly about with his eyes open, gazing into the sunlit depths.