"Well, even a boy would find himself somewhat mussed up here in the middle of the river," sobbed Jennie.
"But he"d have a knife in his pocket, and could cut his clothing off,"
returned Nancy, with some vigor.
In these few moments that they had been out of the boat the current, of course, had carried them down stream. But now, partially relieved of their clinging garments, they wanted to strike out for sh.o.r.e. But which sh.o.r.e?
"I believe we"re nearer the westerly side," said Jennie.
"If we swim over there we won"t know where to go to dry off and get clothes. And there"ll be an awful time at the school," said Nancy.
Just then the horn at the boathouse sounded mournfully across the water.
It was first call for the scattered boats to return--half-past eight. If all the girls were not in by nine they had to explain the reason to Miss Etching.
"Well, then, shall it be the boathouse?" queried Jennie.
"We"ve drifted a long way below it. See! there"s the bend," said Nancy, rising to look. "Let"s make for the nearest point on that side."
"Come on, then!" said Jennie, and side by side, but heavily, the two girls struck out.
Neither was quite sure that she could swim that far under the present conditions. Yet they were too plucky to say so to each other.
For at least five minutes they plugged away and then Nancy, rising up again, uttered a startled exclamation.
"What"s the matter?" demanded Jennie.
"Why! we"re _below_ the point!"
"The current"s taking us down stream!"
"That"s it!"
"Goodness me!" exclaimed Jennie. "We"ll land somewhere about at the Academy, if we don"t look out."
At that instant they both heard the swish of oars, or a paddle. In unison they raised their voices in a shout:
"Help! This way!"
They could not see the craft approaching, for the mist on the river had been growing thicker and thicker, all this time. But there was an answering cry:
"I"m coming! Holler again!"
"Oh, it"s a man!" gasped Jennie.
"It"s a boy!" declared Nancy.
"Shout again!" cried the voice in the mist.
"Well, I"m going to be saved if I"m _not_ dressed for company,"
declared Jennie, and she raised her voice again:
"This way! We"re in the water!"
"Coming!"
Then into sight flashed a ghostly craft, which came straight for them.
"Oh! it"s only a canoe!" wailed Jennie. "We can"t climb into a canoe."
"My goodness! It"s two girls!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the person paddling the canoe.
"Mr. Endress!" exclaimed Nancy, recognizing the boy from Dr. Dudley"s Academy.
"What?" shouted Bob Endress. "Is it Nancy Nelson?"
"And Jennie Bruce. We lost our boat. It sank," explained Nancy, breathlessly.
"Each of you grab the gunwale of my canoe. Easy, now!" admonished Bob.
They did so, one on either side, astern.
"Now I can paddle you to sh.o.r.e. Just let your bodies float right out.
It"s lucky I came along. The current"s so strong around this bend."
"I never saw a boy so welcome before!" gasped Jennie, getting back her courage immediately.
"And now I can return your compliment, Nancy," said Bob, laughing. "You saved me from drowning, and if you hang on long enough I"ll manage to save you, I guess."
He could not paddle the canoe very swiftly with the weight of the two girls dragging it down; but in ten minutes they were in sh.o.r.e and knew that they were safe.
"We could wade in," said Nancy, gasping a little for breath.
"Wait," commanded the boy. "Hadn"t I better take you right up to the landing?"
"Oh, mercy! no!" cried Jennie. "We want to run right home across the fields. The back door won"t be locked."
"We"d better go to the gym. first and get skirts," said Nancy, the practical. "Maybe we can slip in then without anybody being the wiser."
"How under the sun did you manage to sink that skiff of yours?" Bob demanded, showing thereby that he knew more about Nancy and her chum than Nancy had supposed.
"The plug came out," said Nancy, shortly.
"Why didn"t you put it back?"
"It wasn"t an accident!" exclaimed Jennie. "One of the girls drew the plug and just stuffed the hole with rags. We didn"t know it. Of course, the water forced the rags out when we got half-way across the river."
"Why, that was criminal!" cried Bob, angrily. "That was no joke."
"Well, we didn"t laugh ourselves to death about it," agreed Jennie.