"That's queer," muttered Steve. "She seems to be getting farther and farther away from me all the time."
The reason for this was that Rush was getting farther and farther away from the ship. He was propelling himself along in the wrong direction. As the fog began to race on ahead of him he took a look over the waters that now showed white ridges as far as the eye could penetrate. Not a light could he see, save one bright light dead ahead of him. The light winked, went out, then suddenly appeared after a few seconds interval.
"There's the ship!" he cried. "But, oh, how far off it seems to be."
What Steve could not understand, was that he did not see more than one light. Both masthead lights, at least, should have shown. He decided that the side light, the red and the green, were too low down for him to catch a glance at over the tops of the rising waves.
"I'll swim for it anyway," he decided, settling to his work with all the strength that was in him. It would be useless to waste breath in calling, because those on the ship could not hear him at that great distance.
Suddenly the wind abated, the fog rolled back over the lake, again enveloping the swimmer in a dense black mantle. The sea was still running with him, however, and would continue to do so for some time to come, thus helping him along.
After a couple hours of paddling and drifting, during which Rush made considerable headway, the lad realized that he was getting tired. Further than this he was cold and chilled. The chills extended from his head to his feet.
"This won't do," Steve cried, confusedly. "If I get much colder I shall fall off my ship and drown."
He began paddling with renewed vigor, but, work as he would he seemed unable to throw off the chill. He realized, too, that his body was getting numb. The Iron Boy fought desperately, but the more he fought the more drowsy did he become. His efforts grew less and less and his progress slower.
Steve wrapped both arms about the door and with cheek pressed close to it, resigned himself to what he thought would be a few minutes' rest. His heavy eyelids closed slowly; his breathing grew regular, but faint and his legs stretched out full length, being in the water up to his knees.