"Help!! Help! Oh, somebody please come and get us!"
"I'll get them—I can row, and there's another boat on shore," said
Bert, pointing to a craft drawn up on the sand.
"I guess I'd better go out—you stay with Freddie," directed the lumber merchant, as he brought the automobile to a stop, and jumped out.
"I'm coming!" he called to the two little girls in the drifting boat.
"Don't be afraid, and sit still! Don't stand up!"
He needed to caution them thus, for one of the girls, seeing that help was on the way, grew so excited that she stood up, and this is always dangerous to do in a rowboat on the water. Rowboats tip over very easily, and sometimes even good swimmers may be caught under them.
"I wish I could help get them," sighed fat Freddie, as he saw his father run down to the shore of the lake, and shove the other boat into the water.
"It's best to let papa do it," said Bert, though he himself would have liked to have gone to the rescue.
"They'll mind papa, and sit down and keep still, but they wouldn't mind us," went on Bert, explaining matters to his little brother.
"That's right," agreed Freddie. "Girls are awful 'fraid in a boat, anyhow. I'm not afraid."
"Well, not all girls are afraid, either," said Bert with a smile. "Nan isn't afraid."