“Any idea who he is?” he asked the Cubs.
“We never saw him before,” Brad answered. “We were looking for the treasure when Dan noticed him lying here by the boat.”
“He must have crawled from the water only a few minutes ago,” Mr. Hatfield said. The Cub leader had noticed long marks in the sand, indicating that the boy had dragged himself beyond reach of the waves. “I suppose we’d better send for an ambulance—”
His words trailed off, for the boy on the sand unexpectedly had stirred to life. As if aroused by hearing the Cub leader’s remark, he tried to sit up.
“Easy, lad,” Mr. Hatfield advised, placing a supporting arm about his shoulders. “We’ll get you to a hospital.”
The boy’s head shook in a vigorous negative. His fingers gripped Mr. Hatfield’s arm in a hard pressure.
“No!” he whispered fiercely. “No!”
Puzzled by the intensity of the boy’s reaction, Mr. Hatfield studied him a moment in silence.
“You’ve been in the river?” he asked as the other offered no information.
Again the head bobbed, this time in an affirmative answer.