“I wonder if they are strapped to the seats of that biplane?”
“More than likely. They usually strap themselves and their passengers fast to keep from falling out.”
“If they can’t loosen the straps they’ll surely be drowned.”
“Come on, fellows, row for all you’re worth! A second gained may mean a life!” yelled Jack.
“Say, wasn’t that Ruth Stevenson?” came from the second boat.
“Yes,” answered Fred. “Hurry up! We’ve got to save them!”
All this conversation came in jerks, for every cadet was working frantically at his oar in a mad endeavor to reach the sinking aeroplane. They were almost up to the spot when they heard a queer gurgle and suddenly the big flying machine slid from view under the surface of the lake.
“It’s going down!” cried Randy, glancing hastily around.
By this time the first rowboat had reached the scene of the accident and all of the boys threw down their oars to get a better view of the situation. The water was much disturbed, and in the foam created by the disappearing flying machine could be seen two men struggling, one with some sort of strap fastened around him.
“Help! Help! I can’t swim!” cried one of the men, and Jack recognized Mr. Stevenson’s voice.
“Help! I’m being pulled down! Help!” gasped the aviator.
“Go after him, fellows! I’m going after Mr. Stevenson!” called out Randy, and immediately leaped overboard, followed by his brother.
“Where is Ruth?” questioned Jack anxiously, for the girl from Clearwater Hall was one of his dearest friends.
He had scarcely spoken when he saw an arm appear a short distance away. Then Ruth’s head bobbed up and the girl uttered another cry.
“Help me! I can’t move my feet! Help me!”
By this time the second boat was close at hand and a glance showed Jack and Fred that the aviator was already clambering on board. Another glance showed Randy and Andy supporting Mr. Stevenson.
“I’m coming, Ruth! Keep up!” cried Jack, and leaping to the bow of the rowboat he made a quick, slanting dive overboard which brought him within a few feet of where the girl was floundering. He knew that Ruth was a fair swimmer and realized that something must be radically wrong if she could not keep herself afloat.
“Oh, Jack! Jack! Is that you?” gasped the girl. “Help me! My feet are all tangled up!”
“I’m coming, Ruth,” he reassured her. And then he yelled back to his cousin: “Fred, bring the boat up here, quick!”
The stout young Rover hastened to comply, and while he was doing this Jack continued to swim swiftly towards the hapless girl. He caught hold of Ruth’s arm just as she was about to go down a second time.
“Grab hold, Ruth. I’ll support you,” he said. “What is holding you?”
“I don’t know. A strap, I guess. I had one around me and it loosened and slipped to my knees.”
“Just hang over my shoulders and you’ll be all right,” answered the young major. “I was afraid you had been hurt.”
“But, Jack! I can’t move my feet at all!”
“Never mind. We’ll soon have you on board the boat.”
“Where is daddy?”
“Andy and Randy went for him. I’m sure they’ll save him. We’ve got two boats here, and four cadets in each; so there is plenty of assistance at hand.”
At that instant Fred came alongside with the boat and it was the work of but a few seconds to place the dripping girl aboard. Then Jack followed. As Ruth had said, a strap had become tangled around her knees, but this was now disposed of.
In the meantime Andy and Randy had reached Mr. Stevenson, and with something of an effort they managed to get that gentleman over to the vicinity of the second boat. Ruth’s father was somewhat excited, and this was but natural. He could not swim, and, moreover, he had received a blow in the side which pained him considerably.
“My daughter? Where is my daughter?” he questioned as soon as he had hold of the side of the boat.
“Jack and Fred went after her,” answered Spouter. “There they are, over yonder. Jack is supporting her.”
“Thank heaven then she isn’t drowned!” said Mr. Stevenson, shuddering. “I’d have gone after her myself; but what can a man do if he can’t swim? After this I’ll advocate that every boy and girl be forced to learn to swim,” he added, with emphasis.
“Either that or keep away from the water,” returned Andy grimly.
“Oh, Jack, what a terrible experience!” came from Ruth, when she could regain her breath. “I thought surely I was going down to the bottom of the lake. And how good of you to come to my aid!”
“You don’t suppose I was going to let you drown, Ruth?” he answered quickly.
“I have to thank you too, Fred,” went on the girl.
“Oh, I didn’t do so much,” answered the stout Rover modestly. “It’s mighty lucky we happened to be in this vicinity,” he went on.
“And just to think I was going to surprise you, Jack!” continued Ruth.
“Surprise me?”
“Yes. By sending you a picture of daddy and me in the aeroplane. You see, my father came to Haven Point last night and called on me this morning, and he happened to know the men who are running the aero corporation. So when I begged him to take me up he agreed and we had our photographs taken just when we started.” She paused and gave a sudden shiver. “Oh, if daddy had been drowned, what would I have done!”
A little later the two boats came together and Mr. Stevenson joined his daughter in the craft manned by the Rovers.
“I scraped my side on the machine when we came down so suddenly,” explained Ruth’s father. “It hurts me yet. I think I’ll see a doctor about it when I go ashore. I must have scraped the skin pretty hard, if nothing more,” and he winced.
“We’ll row for Haven Point right away,” answered Jack.
“I suppose that’s the last of my biplane,” said the aviator. “How deep is the lake around here, do any of you know?”
“I don’t believe it’s very deep right here,” answered Gif. “Do you see that sandy beach over on the island yonder? Well, that sandbar extends out in this direction.”
“Then maybe the machine didn’t sink as far down as I thought it might,” went on Tom Bossick, for such was his name. “I’d like to mark this spot if I could.”
“Maybe you could dive overboard again and find out what became of the flying machine,” suggested Dan Soppinger. “That is, unless you feel too weak.”
“Oh, I’m all right. I went through a good deal worse than this when I was flying for Uncle Sam in France,” said Bossick, with a grin. “If you fellows are not in a hurry I’d like to find out what did become of the old lady.”
“If you fellows want to stay here with the aviator, we’ll take Mr. Stevenson and Ruth over to Haven Point,” said Jack.
“All right, go ahead,” answered Gif readily. “We’ll take the aviator over later, after he has located his machine. I suppose, if it’s only in shallow water, it might be raised again?”
“So I was thinking,” answered Tom Bossick.
A minute later the two boats separated and the four Rovers took up the task of rowing to Haven Point.
“It’s mighty lucky for us that there’s no wind and the sun is so warm,” said Jack, as he glanced at the water still dripping from his own garments and those worn by the others who had been in the lake.
“We’ll create a sight when we reach the town,” was Randy’s comment.
“I guess everybody will want to know what happened to the flying machine and if the folks on board were rescued,” put in Fred. “You three will be regular heroes,” and he gave something of an envious glance at his cousins.
“Oh, say, Fred! Can that hero stuff,” put in Andy quickly. “Anybody would have done what we did if only they had had the chance.”
“Nevertheless, I’m very thankful to all of you,” said Mr. Stevenson.
“Are you sure you weren’t hurt quite a good deal, Mr. Stevenson?” questioned Jack. He noted that the face of Ruth’s father was pale and haggard.
“Oh, I don’t think it’s very much, Jack. Of course, we came down so hard it gave us all a terrible jolt.”
“It was like one of those roller-coaster boats hitting the water at a seaside resort,” remarked Randy.
“A good deal worse than that!” cried Ruth. “You know, we came down nose first, as they say. Why, for an instant I thought I was going to be thrown out on my face. And, you must remember, we were several hundred feet up in the air when we started to fall.”
“Oh, I know you came down pretty hard,” answered Andy. “Why, the water splashed in every direction!”
After this there was a brief period of silence, the boys bending vigorously to their oars, feeling that the Stevensons would like to get ashore and to shelter as soon as possible.
“I am staying at the Haven Point House,” said Mr. Stevenson. “I’ll go right up there and get an extra room for Ruth, and then we can telephone to Clearwater Hall and have some of the girls bring her some dry clothing. And I’ll have a doctor look her over, as well as find out what’s the matter with my side. I don’t think it’s much, but I want him to make sure. I have trouble enough these days without becoming sick,” he added, with a thoughtful look on his face.
As anticipated, their coming to one of the docks of the town created not a little excitement. A number of persons had seen the erratic movements of the biplane and had witnessed its disappearance into the lake, and the news had spread that the aviator and his passengers were probably drowned. Several boats had put out to the scene of the disaster, but these now returned. A crowd surrounded the Stevensons and the cadets, asking numerous questions. But Jack soon obtained a taxicab, and into this the Stevensons were hurried and the driver was directed to take them at once to the hotel.
“We’ll be up after a while,” said Jack. “I want to telephone to Colonel Colby first, to let him know we’ll be late in getting back. I don’t want to leave here until I find out what condition your father is really in.”
With the Stevensons gone, the Rover boys told the crowd some of the particulars of what had happened.
“I think I know what was the trouble,” said another aviator who was present, a man who occasionally took Tom Bossick’s place. “Tom and I were going over the motor a couple of days ago, and I noticed that it wasn’t as fast to the framework as it might be. It’s my opinion it worked loose, and that threw the machine off its keel.”
“The aviator didn’t say what went wrong,” answered Fred. “Perhaps he didn’t know himself. But one thing is sure—the biplane bobbed around from one side to the other several times before it headed down into the lake.”
“Well, they can all be thankful they escaped with their lives,” said one of the bystanders, and in this statement everybody concurred.
The Rover boys telephoned to the military academy and gave the head of that institution a few of the particulars of what had occurred. Colonel Colby had heard nothing about the aeroplane accident, and was, of course, much surprised. He readily gave the boys permission to remain in town for an hour longer in order that they might ascertain more of Mr. Stevenson’s real condition.
A motor boat had been sent to the scene of the wreck, and this presently returned with Tom Bossick on board.
“The cadets in the other rowboat have returned to their school,” said the aviator. “We found that the aeroplane was under less than twenty feet of water, so I have hopes that we can raise her and maybe have her repaired, or at least save the engine. I think she rests on that sandbar one of you young fellows mentioned.”
“And what went wrong?” questioned Fred eagerly.
“I think the motor got loose somehow. We’ll have to investigate after we raise the biplane—if we ever do.”
A little later the four Rover boys went to the hotel. There they encountered Jack’s sister Martha and Fred’s sister Mary, who had just come over from Clearwater Hall with some dry clothing for Ruth. Of course the two Rover girls were greatly excited, and they rushed at their brothers and their cousins, demanding to know if they were perfectly all right.
“Sure we are!” declared Fred. “Why, I wasn’t even in the water!”
“But the rest of you are dripping wet,” declared Martha.
“We’re all right,” answered Jack. “But what we want to know is how Mr. Stevenson and Ruth are.”
“Ruth says the bath didn’t hurt her a bit,” answered Mary. “But she is rather worried about her father.”
A few minutes later Ruth came forth. Her hair was still wet and done up fantastically in a towel, but she wore the dry clothes the other girls had brought her.
“I’m perfectly all right,” she said to Jack.
“What about your dad?”
“The doctor says he’ll have to keep very quiet for a few days,” went on the girl soberly. “He received a blow in the side just under the right arm. He is all black and blue.”
“He seemed to be very haggard, Ruth,” remarked the young major.
At this Ruth Stevenson gave Jack a look which he found hard to interpret. She caught Jack’s hand and drew him a little to one side.
“Dad has been having a whole lot of trouble lately,” she whispered. “Some time I’ll tell you all about it—or at least as much as I know of it.”