"I'll never go home without my darling sister! If she drowns, I'll drown!"
"Jump into the boat," screamed the boys. "It's no use; you can't get her!"
"Yes, I will," said Preston, and dived again. That time, without knowing it, he almost touched Flaxie, lying still as a log, ten feet below.
When he came up, the boys reached after him and pulled him into the boat. He struggled with all his might; but it was two against one, and he could not help himself.
"Oogle, oogle, goggle!" screamed he; for his mouth was so full of water that he could not speak.
"Pat him on the back," said Jack Snow, always ready with advice.
"Oogle, oogle, oggle, goggle!" cried Preston, striking out both arms, and determined to dive again; but the boys held him fast. If they had not held him, he would certainly have drowned, but he could not have saved Flaxie. He had courage enough, and will enough for a grown man; but, alas, his strength was only that of a little boy.
And what could be done? Bert Abbott ran up the bank, screaming for help. Was all the world deaf? If those boys had never prayed before, they prayed now. "Help us, help us, O God, won't you help us? Send somebody to save Flaxie!"
It was quite five minutes—so I am told—that the child lay in that brook before any help came. At last a man, who was going by, heard the outcry, and thought it sounded like something more than boys' play. He ran to the spot; and, as he could swim, he soon had Flaxie out of the water; but, whether dead or alive, that was the question.