“Now, pull the noose tight!” continued Billy, when he saw the boy had followed out his command. “Make your way toward this end of the roof, and be ready to jump when I say so. Don’t be afraid of falling in; we’ve got the rope tight, and can yank you out of the river as quick as a flash if you should miss. Steady now, and it’s going to be as easy as falling off a log.”
In this fashion, then, did Billy coax the boy to crawl along the reeling roof of the cabin until he had reached the edge. Then, when the right second came, and the building was inclined toward them, he suddenly called out:
“Jump, boy, jump!”
The lad had faith enough to believe what Billy so confidently told him. He sprang without hesitation, struck the edge of the launch, and then several eager hands seized upon him before he could fall back into the water.
And as Hugh backed away from the tumbling cabin he joined his chums in letting out a loud shout that relieved their pent-up feelings as nothing else could have done.
CHAPTER XII.
WELL-EARNED PRAISE.
It was just as Hugh had expected.
The launch was turned so that her head pointed upstream again, but out there, in the middle of the river, the current proved to be so strong that, although the motor worked madly, they gained very little headway. Even when Hugh crept in closer to the shore, where they might have a better chance to proceed, he realized that it was hopeless trying to get back to town under several hours.
As the night was now ready to close in upon them, the danger of meeting with an accident warned the careful pilot against attempting anything like this.
“Keep on the lookout for a good tying-up place, boys,” he told them. “If you see a tree close to the water, and what looks like a little cove below it, that’s the spot we want to stop at.”