Fleet ran his canoe over to where Pod, grinning good naturedly, was clinging to the bottom of the upturned craft.
“Got me that time,” said the little fellow, “but I guess a bath won’t hurt me.”
With the aid of Fleet the canoe was righted. Then Pod swam to where his suitcase and paddle were floating on the surface of the lake, and pushed them toward the canoe. Then, climbing aboard while Fleet steadied the craft, the boys set out in pursuit of their chums.
In the meantime the other boys had come up with the men in the skiff, and keeping out of their way, ran alongside so that they could land first, and intercept the suspects as they came ashore.
Finally, the man at the oars grew angry, and pulling a revolver from his pocket, leveled it at Bert, who was the nearest the skiff.
“Now you drop that paddle or I’ll plug you, kid,” he said. “This foolishness has gone far enough.”
So interested were the men in finding out what Bert would do in the face of such an argument, they forgot Chot who was on the other side of them, and who, with his usual quick-wittedness, lost no time in acting. Dropping his paddle, he seized his suitcase, and standing erect in the canoe, threw it with all his might straight at the head of the man with the revolver.
An earthquake could not have been more surprising or more destructive at that moment. True to its aim went the suitcase. It contained Chot’s best suit of clothes and other wearing apparel, but this did not enter into the argument at that time. The case struck the big man on the side of the head. His grasp on the revolver loosened and the weapon fell with a splash into the lake. The big man, stunned by the blow, after a futile attempt to regain his balance, followed, capsizing the skiff and throwing his companion into the water.
“Hurrah!” cried Tom.
“Hurrah! Hurrah!” echoed Fleet and Pod, who came up at this moment.