“Now we’ll get the other one,” Bob said as he started to row back up the lake.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Jack declared. “If only that barrel landed on the bow.”
“It won’t be hard to lift it if it didn’t,” Bob assured him. “You see we put on just barely enough rocks to sink it so it’ll be light in the water.”
By nine o’clock the other barrel was down at the stern.
“Let’s hook the one on the bow first,” Bob proposed as he stood ready for the dive.
“Right. Got your knife?”
“Sure thing.”
“Then come on.”
They struck the water together and swam swiftly for the bottom. To their great satisfaction they found that the first barrel had settled in exactly the right place on the bow and they had no trouble in slipping the hook into a ring. Then, with their knives they cut the ropes which held the rocks.
“Did you notice whether she lifted any?” Bob asked as he was climbing into the boat. “I didn’t have time to see.”