The girls were as much interested as the boys in the impromptu race, and they soon began to shout words of encouragement.
“Pull! pull! we’re going to win!” cried May.
“Not a bit of it! Our boat will get there first!” sang out Alice.
“You can’t beat us!” came from Annie.
“He crows best who crows last,” cried Ruth.
“Right you are!” came pantingly from Jack; and then, as he saw the look of encouragement in Ruth’s face, he redoubled his efforts. Fred did the same, and when they came into plain view of the tiny dock at the end of Foxtail Island their boat was two full lengths ahead of the other.
“Hi you! What kind of a race is this, anyhow?” shouted out Andy, gaily. “Why don’t you keep side by side and be sociable?”
“Sour grapes!” roared Fred. “Here is where we win!” and in a moment more he and Jack sent their boat up to the side of the little dock. Almost immediately the second craft followed.
“I think all of you did very well,” remarked Ruth, consolingly.
“Anyway, we came in a close second,” remarked Randy.
“We would have won if it hadn’t been for one thing—just one thing,” remarked Andy, solemnly.
“Why, what was that?” questioned several of the others quickly.
“That was the fact that the other boat”—Andy drew a deep breath—”came in first.” At this the girls shrieked with laughter and the other boys set up a howl.
“Pitch him into the lake!”
“That’s right! Give him a bath!”
“A ducking will do him good—he needs to be cooled off!”
“Not much! No bath for me!” cried Andy, quickly, and lost no time in leaping to the dock, where, in the exuberance of his spirits, he turned several handsprings, much to the amusement of the girls.
“Is there anything worth seeing on this island?” questioned Jack, when the excitement of the race was over.
“There isn’t anything here that I know of,” answered Ruth. “In the summer time people come here to picnic. There is a nice spring of water in the center of the island.”
“Let’s go and get a drink,” said Fred. “That race made me thirsty;” and off the whole party trooped to the spring.
The young folks had a good time at the spring and in exploring the little island, which had a hill at one end covered with trees. They found some chestnuts and also a few hickory nuts, and these the boys opened for the girls’ benefit.
“I suppose we had better go on and finish the row,” remarked Jack to Ruth, presently. “That is, unless you girls would rather wander through the woods.”
“Oh, it’s nice enough here on the island,” she answered. “Remember, you’ll have quite a row back to the school and then to Colby Hall.”
“Oh, let’s stay here for a while,” put in Alice. “Maybe we’ll be able to find more nuts.”
They hunted around, and presently discovered another large chestnut tree which was fairly loaded. The boys threw up sticks and stones, and brought down a big shower.
“If I had known this, we might have brought along a pillowcase for the nuts,” said Fred.
“We can come back some day if we want to,” returned Randy.
Before leaving the island the young folks decided to go back to where the spring was located, so as to get another drink and also to wash their hands. On this trip, in speaking about the excitement at the moving picture theater, Randy chanced to mention Jennie Mason’s name.
“Jennie is a nice girl,” answered Annie Larkins, to whom he was speaking, “but she does some things that I do not approve of. Do you know a cadet at your Hall named Napoleon Martell—I think they call him Nappy for short?”
“Do we know him!” exclaimed Randy. “I should say we did!”
“Oh! is that so?” Annie looked at him searchingly. “Is he a friend of yours?”
“No; I can’t say that he is. To tell you the truth, he doesn’t like us at all.”
“If that’s the case, I don’t mind speaking to you about Jennie,” went on the girl. “You know, Jennie comes from New York City. And down there she met Nappy Martell quite a few times, and they became well acquainted. But Jennie’s folks don’t approve of him at all; and they don’t want her to go with him.” And here Annie paused.
“And do you mean to say she does go with him, anyhow?” queried the Rover boy.
“Yes. She goes out to meet him whenever she can get the chance,” was the reply. “You are sure you don’t approve of him?”
“Not in the least. In fact, to tell the truth, we have no use for him or the bunch he trains with.”
“I see. Well, all of us think it is perfectly dreadful the way Jennie accepts Martell’s invitations. Of course, we don’t want to tell on her, either in school or to her folks, and yet none of us think it is right.”
“Does he take her out much?”
“Oh, as much as they dare to go. He takes her out sailing on the lake and to the moving picture shows, and once they went off together on a picnic to the Clearwater Country Club. The places were all right in themselves, but I know Jennie’s folks don’t want her to be seen in the company of Nappy Martell. He is so loud and forward.”
“You can’t tell us anything about Martell being loud and forward,” answered Randy, readily. “We all know him to be a regular bully. Besides that, when he isn’t in uniform, he wears the loudest kind of clothes—just as if he wanted to make an exhibition of himself.”
“Jennie went out with him this afternoon,” continued Annie. “Where they went to, I do not know. But I think they hired a motor boat and went across the lake.”
“Does Martell know how to run a motor boat?”
“Oh, yes. He told Jennie that he owned a motor boat on the Hudson River—a boat his father gave him for a birthday present.”
Randy and the girl had dropped a little behind the others, who now waited for them to come up.
“I think we had better be getting back,” said Jack. “It isn’t as clear as it was before, and it is beginning to blow.”
“Yes, we’ll get back,” returned Randy, with a look at the sky. He knew that a blow on the lake might be no trifling matter.
On the way over to the island the sun had been clear and warm. Now, however, it was hidden under a dark bank of clouds, which were coming up quickly from the west. The wind was already blowing freely, and out on the bosom of the lake the water was roughing up in tiny ripples.
“All aboard, everybody!” sang out Jack. And then turning to his cousins he added in a low voice: “We mustn’t lose a minute of time in getting back. This blow is going to be a heavy one.”
The girls were soon seated in the rowboats, and then the four Rovers lost no time in casting off from the little dock and in starting to row towards Clearwater Hall. As they proceeded, the sky kept growing darker and darker while the wind grew stronger and stronger.
“We’re in for a squall all right enough,” murmured Randy, as he and Andy bent to their oars with vigor.
“Gee! I only hope we can reach the shore before it strikes us,” was the response.
“Row for all you’re worth, boys!” sang out Jack from the other boat. “Bend to it just as if you were in a race!”
And then he and Fred, as well as the twins, settled down to the task of trying to outrace the oncoming squall.
CHAPTER XX
IN GREAT PERIL
As those who have had any experience know, a squall on a lake encircled by hills sometimes comes up very quickly, and this is what happened in the present case. Hardly had the two rowboats covered a quarter of the distance to the shore, when the wind came whistling across the bosom of the lake, sending the whitecaps tumbling in all directions.
“Oh, dear, just look how rough the water is getting!” remarked Ruth in alarm.
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“And how the wind is blowing!” added May.
In the other boat the girls were even more fearful, and Andy and Randy had all they could do to make them sit still.
“Don’t shift,” pleaded Randy. “We don’t want to ship any water.”
“Oh, dear! If only we were safe on shore!” wailed Alice.
“I didn’t think it looked like a storm when we left the school,” added Annie, in dismay.
“This is only a squall. It may blow itself out in a few minutes,” returned Randy, although to himself he admitted that the squall looked as though it might last for some time.
Battling as best they could against the wind and the whitecaps, the Rover boys strove to reach the shore in the vicinity of the girls’ school. But the wind was blowing directly down Clearwater Lake and threatened more than once to capsize them.
“Gee, Jack, this is getting serious!” panted Fred, as he looked questioningly at his cousin.
The same thought had come into the minds of each of the boys. Could the girls swim? They wished they knew, but did not dare to ask any questions for fear of further alarming their passengers.
“I guess we had better head up into the wind. It’s the safest thing to do,” cried Jack. And then, raising his voice to be heard above the whistling of the elements, he added: “Head up! Don’t take those waves sideways! Head up!”
The others understood, and in a minute more both of the boats were heading directly into the wind. This prevented either of the craft from swamping, but caused the spray to hit the bow more than once, sending a shower of water over everybody.
“Oh, dear! I’m getting wet!” wailed May.
“Do you think you can reach shore?” questioned Ruth of Jack; and her wide-open eyes showed her terror.
“We can’t head for the school just now,” he answered. “We’ll have to keep pulling up against the wind until it lets up a little.”
“Oh, but we sha’n’t upset, shall we?” came from Spouter Powell’s cousin.
“I don’t think so. Anyway, we are going to do our best to prevent it,” answered Fred.
Keeping as close together as they dared, the two rowboats continued to head up into the wind, which still blew as hard as ever. In the sky the clouds were shifting, and Jack and his cousins had great hopes that ere long the sudden squall would blow itself out.
“Here comes a motor boat up behind us!” cried Ruth, presently.
All looked in that direction and saw a fair-sized craft coming up the lake. She was making good speed in spite of the whitecaps, and was sending the spray flying in all directions.
“I think that is the boat Jennie Mason was going out in,” remarked Annie to Randy. “Yes; I am sure it is,” she added a minute later, as the motor boat came closer. “There is Mr. Martell at the wheel now.”
The discovery that Nappy Martell was running the oncoming motor boat had also been made by those occupying the other rowboat.
“It’s Martell! And there is Slugger Brown with him!” cried Fred.
“Isn’t one of those girls Miss Mason?” questioned Jack.
“Yes. And Ida Brierley, one of our girls, is with her,” answered Ruth. Her manner indicated that the discovery did not altogether please her.
“Maybe we can get that motor boat to pull us in,” suggested May. “They could do it easily enough.”
“So they could,” answered Fred. “But I doubt if those two fellows who are running it would like to undertake the job. They go to Colby Hall, but they are no friends of ours.”
“Yes, but they ought not to let their enmity stand between us in a time like this,” said Jack. “If they were in the rowboats and I was in the motor boat, I’d give them help quick enough.”
As the motor boat drew nearer, it prepared to pass close to the craft manned by Jack and Fred. As it came closer, Jennie Mason gave a cry of surprise.
“Oh, look! look! There are those Rover boys, and some of our girls are with them!”
“I’m glad I am not out in a rowboat,” said Ida Brierley. “I’d be afraid of getting a good ducking.”
“Ahoy there, on the motor boat!” sang out Fred, as the craft came alongside. “Can’t you fellows give us a tow? We have plenty of rope.”
“This motor boat wasn’t built for towing,” answered Nappy Martell, roughly.
“We’re having a terrible time of it against this wind,” put in Jack. He would not have asked for assistance on his own account, but he was thinking of the girls. He knew that all of them were badly frightened.
“Oh, yes! please tow us in!” came from May.
“Yes! please do!” added Ruth.
“It’s so far to the shore!” came from Annie.
“And we’re afraid we’ll get wet through and through!” cried Alice.
“You ought to do something for them,” declared Jennie Mason, who had herself become frightened over the roughness of the lake.
“I’m not going to tow those Rovers in,” muttered Nappy Martell. “You wouldn’t do it, would you, Slugger?”
“Not much! Let ‘em take care of themselves,” was the heartless answer.
“Oh! but they may be drowned!” gasped Jennie.
“Nothing of the sort. This is only a little wind, and it will soon die down. If those Rovers have to break their backs rowing, it will do ‘em good!”
“If you don’t tow us in, you’ll be the meanest fellow on earth,” sang out Andy.
“I wouldn’t have your disposition for a million dollars,” added his twin.
“Aw! go chase yourselves!” retorted Slugger Brown, heartlessly.
“We’re not helping fellows like you,” came from Nappy Martell. Then the motor boat passed on and was soon all but lost in the distance.
“Of all the mean people!” cried Ruth.
“I shouldn’t think Jennie Mason would stand for such meanness,” declared May. “Nor Ida Brierley, either.”
The motor boat having gone on and left them to their fate, the Rover boys continued pulling on the oars. It was hard, laborious work, and soon Andy and Fred were all but exhausted. Jack and Randy, however, had now gotten their second wind, so to speak, and they continued their efforts with unabated vigor.
“It was as mean as dirt for them to leave us out here when they could have towed us in with ease,” panted Fred. “Just you wait—I’ll let the whole school know of this!”
“Don’t talk! Save your wind. We can talk afterwards,” returned his cousin.
The next quarter of an hour was one which none of the girls or boys ever forgot. The Rovers continued to battle with the wind and the waves with all the energy left to them, while the girls crouched down on the seats almost speechless with fear. Occasionally, the waves would hit the bow of one rowboat or the other, sending a shower of water over the occupants.
“I—think—it’s—letting up—a—bit,” panted Jack, presently, and glanced up at the sky.
“Oh, if only it would!” breathed Ruth.
The boat containing the others had dropped slightly behind, but now Jack and Fred held back until it was once more alongside.
“Oh, did you ever see such a storm!” wailed Alice.
“I don’t think I’ll ever want to go out in a rowboat again,” was Annie’s bitter comment.
“I think the wind is beginning to die down,” said Ruth, encouragingly.
“Let—us—hope—so,” came in jerks from Jack. He was still rowing, but his arms felt as if they were being torn from their sockets.
They had now covered nearly half the distance to the upper end of the lake, but they were just as far from the western shore as ever. Now, however, as the wind began to die down, they turned slightly in the direction of Haven Point.
“It won’t matter where we land,” declared Ruth. “We can easily walk back to the school.”
“Oh, you must be very tired!” said Ruth to Jack.
“Never—mind—we’ll—reach—shore—somehow,” he answered. Then she said no more, because she knew it was painful for him to speak.
The four boys continued to row on, and in about a quarter of an hour came within plain view of the shore, at a point some distance beyond Clearwater Hall and the town.
“Oh, look! Something is the matter down by the lumber yards,” remarked Alice, presently. “See the men running!” She pointed, and those in both rowboats looked in that direction.
“I don’t see anything wrong,” said Ruth.
“I do!” cried May, and gave a little shriek. “Look! look! A whole lot of lumber is drifting this way!”
“Some—thing—broken—lose,” gasped Jack. “Maybe—a—lumber—raft.”
And that was just what had happened. In a manner to be explained later, a lumber raft being towed up the lake by a steam tug had not only broken away, but likewise had broken apart, and the timbers which had composed it were now floating around over a large area of Clearwater Lake.
In another minute the two rowboats were in the very midst of the drifting timbers and in great danger of being upset.
CHAPTER XXI
ASSISTANCE REFUSED
“My gracious! look at the lumber floating around!”
“Be careful, boys! Don’t get hit if you can help it!”
“One of those timbers is heavy enough to send us to the bottom!”
“Oh, dear! Do you think we’ll be smashed up?”
Such were some of the cries which rent the air as the Rover boys and the girls with them found themselves in the midst of the wreckage from the broken-apart lumber raft.
On all sides of them heavy sticks of timber were bobbing up and down on the whitecaps, and presently one of these bumped into the craft occupied by Jack and Fred and two of the girls. The rowboat careened so much that quite a large quantity of water was shipped, which made Ruth and May scream in fright.
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