There was a sudden rush of water, so loud that it almost smothered Tommy’s cries in his own ears, and he knew that he could scarcely be heard ten feet away. At the same time the wheel gave a sudden lurch and swung far over. Tommy could see down below him a dark tunnel, filled with foaming, rushing water.
“Help! Help!” he cried, desperately.
“Did You—Did You Save Me?” Asked Tommy.
Then he saw something else. It was a man—a man in rather ragged clothes, who sprang into the mill through one of the broken windows. The man made a rush for the wheel. Tommy closed his eyes, wishing it was all a dream, and that he would awaken safe in bed.
He heard the rushing of waters louder now, and above them a man’s voice seemed to shout:
“Why, it’s Tommy Tiptop! Who started that wheel? I’ve got to stop it!”
Something hit Tommy on the head, and everything got black around him. There was a roaring in his ears, and when he opened his eyes he found himself staring up toward the dusty beams of the ceiling of the old mill. He knew that he was being held in the arms of someone, and, when he turned his head, he saw the kindly face of Old Johnny Green bending over him.
“Did you—did you save me?” asked Tommy.
“I did, and just in time,” answered the old man. “What did you want to get up there for, and who started the wheel?”