"I can let him down at the end of the rope and souse him in the stream," suggested Crazy Jane.
"No, no, no!" protested the guardian. She took Janus firmly by the arm. "Where do you feel bad?"
"I swum! I swum!" mumbled the guide. "I swum!"
"You'd have had to swim if you had gone through the hole in the floor," retorted Crazy Jane. "Harriet went down there, and——"
"Eh? What—wha—at?" gasped the guide, blinking rapidly.
"Sit down a moment," urged Miss Elting. "None of us is seriously hurt. How about you?" gazing at the driver. "No bones broken, I trust?"
The driver shook his head. Janus was gazing at the opening in the floor with a puzzled expression on his face. He stared at the planks banked on each side, nodding understandingly.
"Been fixing the bridge. Forgot to put the planks back in place," he muttered.
"Isn't it rather strange that so important a thing should have been forgotten, Mr. Grubb?" questioned the guardian significantly.
"I swum! I swum!" repeated Janus, running reflective fingers through his beard.