"Roundy!"
And then, quite without command or plan, the balance of the Black Eagle Patrol, plus little Prissler, took his place.
Bunny was over first, with Bi, Jump and Specs close seconds. Nap followed, hard pressed by Bonfire. Then S. S. and Prissler, and, last of all, the freed Roundy.
Swiftly, surely, they cut their way to the helpless girl, with Bunny in the lead. Catching her dress near the back of her neck, he held her face clear of the water till, by clasping both hands under her chin, he was able to swim slowly on his back and tow her to safety.
Jump and Nap swam alongside; Bonfire was lending a hand to the other shipwrecked miss; Prissler, who was obviously not as much at home in the water as the others, wisely put back for the launch; while S. S., ploughing through the water like a fish, was already clambering aboard, ready to start the engine. Bi, Roundy and Specs joined forces in towing the upturned craft toward the power boat.
The rest was comparatively simple. The Scouts made no work at all of climbing back into the launch; and, with feet well braced, Bi and Specs easily lifted the two girls over the side. Marion Genevieve sank down on the leather cushions, weak and faint, though frightened rather than harmed. The other girl, who introduced herself as Marion Genevieve's cousin, was able to laugh good-naturedly.
"We stood up in the boat," she said, "because we wanted to change seats. And—well, that's all!"
"It may be all as far as you are concerned," thought more than one Scout, "but we're going somewhere in a hurry, and now we'll have to take you back to Shadow Island and tow that capsized boat, to boot."
But nobody was impolite enough to say this aloud.
Whatever Bunny wished to do, it was plain that he had no choice in the matter. Though Marion Genevieve was not dangerously ill or faint, she kept up a moaning for her mother that could not be disregarded. Roundy, still a little disgruntled over his mishap, turned to the patrol leader, who nodded toward Shadow Island. With a line fast to the swamped boat, the launch engine started and they began to move slowly toward the shore line. It seemed to every boy that hours were being wasted, but nobody complained.