CHAPTER III.
THE CABIN BY THE SHORE.
The water was icy cold and as Bob went beneath the surface it seemed to him that his blood froze in his veins. Thanks to the cork jacket which he had kept on his head bobbed out of the water almost immediately and, as he rose on the top of a wave, he looked about for Jack, and saw him only a few feet away.
"Where's the captain?" he shouted.
"Don't know," Jack shouted back shaking the water from his eyes.
Both boys were expert swimmers and, with the help of the life preservers, they had no difficulty in keeping afloat although the big waves dashed over their heads filling their eyes with salt water.
"I'm afraid he's a goner," Bob gasped as he fought his way to his brother's side. "He didn't have on a preserver, you know."
"And I reckon we're goners too in spite of them," Jack chattered back.
Bob felt in his heart that Jack was right unless a miracle happened as he well knew that no one could live long in that cold water which seemed to penetrate to the very marrow of the bones.
"Swim hard so as to keep up the circulation," he began and then paused as his eyes caught sight of something floating in the water only a few feet to his right. A few powerful strokes brought him to the spot, but the object had disappeared. With a prayer on his lips he dove and swam downward with all his strength. Down, down, he struggled until he knew that he had reached his limit. Then, just as he was about to turn, his outstretched hand came in contact with something and he knew he had found what he was after. The memory of that awful struggle to the surface haunted his dreams for months afterward. But, although it seemed as though his lungs would burst with pressure and he more than once nearly lost his hold, he finally succeeded and, to his great relief, he came up close beside Jack.