“I’ll be swimming downstream, not against the current, Mr. Hatfield. Please let me try.”
“Dan, it’s too risky. If I could swim worth a cent myself—”
“You can’t,” said Dan. “That’s why you’re afraid to let me try. I know my own strength in the water. I can do it easily.”
Mr. Hatfield smiled and stood a moment studying the current which eddied about the half-submerged bush and the boat.
“I believe there’s a rope in the back of the car,” he said finally. “If it’s long enough we may be able to do something.”
Fetching the rope, he coiled it carefully and tested its length by tossing it far out into the river. It fell only a few feet short of the boat.
“My throw was weak,” the Cub leader said. “The rope actually is long enough to reach. Dan, you’re dead sure you want to try this?”
“Rarin’ to go!”
“Then strip to your shorts. You’ll need freedom of movement.”
Dan eagerly pulled off his shoes and divested himself of his outer garments. Carefully the Cub leader then tied the rope about his waist and tested the knot to make certain it would hold.