In another moment or two, he would have to come back up. He dared not go down a second time, either, for the cold was creeping into even his tough young body.
Suddenly, his finger tips brushed against some object....
Sandy felt a thrill of joy. He stretched out his hands and felt something hard and unbending. His heart sang. He had grasped Cookie’s shoe!
It was only just in time.
The little man had swallowed so much water and been in the lake so long that he had lost consciousness. When Sandy discovered him, he was headed down in what might have been his death dive.
Quickly, Sandy slid his hands along from Cookie’s shoes to seize him firmly by the ankles.
With a savage, scissor kick of his long legs, Sandy drove upward to the surface.
How happy he was when his head at last burst into the open air and he could breathe again! Even though his ears had begun to ring, he could hear the great cheer that went up when he came into view, with Cookie safely in his arms.
“He’s got him!” the crewmen cried. “He’s got Cookie! Here, throw him a line!”
There was a splash beside his head and Sandy saw a length of rope floating in the water. Weakly, he put out his hand to grasp it. With the other, he struggled to hold the unconscious Cookie’s head above the water. Sandy felt himself getting weaker and weaker.