“Well, that ten minutes saved your life, kid,” Jimmy grinned. “Alf and I must have left right after you did and passed you. I wonder if you would have made it over the falls if we hadn’t come along. I’d like to go down later and see what it looks like over the brink!”
“So would I, Jimmy,” Brook said.
Jimmy snorted. “You’re going to lie around this afternoon, Brook, after we fix you up.”
Back at camp they found that Pat was just beginning to get worried. He had kept their lunch warm for them and looked rather cross as they beached the canoe. Then he caught a glimpse of Brook’s white face.
“Well, out with it,” Pat said, frowning. “What happened to you, lad? You look like a drowned rat.”
“I’m worse than that,” Brook said ruefully. “I’m battered and bruised, too.”
As they all explained what had happened, interrupting each other constantly, Pat carefully examined Brook to make sure he was not badly hurt. “Just a strained ligament,” he said, smiling reassuringly. “We’ll have that shoulder strapped up in no time.”
He went into the hut for his first aid kit, and soon Brook was eating as hungrily as the other boys. But after lunch he didn’t argue when Pat said:
“Now, lad, you’re to take it easy the rest of the day.”
The next morning Brook reported that outside of a few bruises, he felt fine. Then they all went back to see the falls.