As the three watched, the swift current caught the craft and swung it slightly to the left.
“It’s holding by a breath and a prayer,” Dan said. “Any minute it will float away and that may be the last we’ll ever see of it.”
“Couldn’t we wade out and bring the boat in?” proposed Brad. “The current is swift, but the water shouldn’t be too deep here close to shore.”
“It’s over your head and mine part of the way, Brad. And neither of us classifies as an expert swimmer.”
“But I do,” spoke up Dan. Then he corrected himself: “I don’t mean to hold myself out as an expert, but I’m considered pretty good at the Y. Mr. Hatfield, I could take off my shoes and wade out there. I wouldn’t have to swim except the last few yards.”
“It’s too dangerous, Dan. The current is treacherously swift. It might sweep you past the boat and on down river.”
“But if I don’t try, we’ll lose the boat,” Dan argued. “And the Indian feather headdress! The Cubs were counting on it to win the Pack handicraft exhibition.”
“Mr. Holloway’s boat is worth considerable money,” Brad added, swinging toward support of Dan’s plea. “If only we could get it now before it’s damaged—”
“I know I could swim out there,” Dan argued. “At the Y I’ve done three times that distance without even tiring.”
“But not in a swift current, Dan,” the Cub leader said.