said Watson, "and I think I can eat
a----" He gasped and failed to finish the sentence. He half rose from his
seat, relinquished the oars, with a despairing cry, and then, losing all
consciousness, pitched over the gunwale into the sunlit waters of the
Gulf.

George jumped up from the stern and stretched out his arm to seize the
inanimate body of his friend. But the movement was too much for the
equilibrium of the frail boat and for the balance of the boy. Out into the
water shot George, overturning the craft until its keel was in the air.

George struck out for Watson and succeeded in grabbing him by the hair of
his head just as he was about to disappear beneath the waves. Then he
changed his hold upon the man, and with his left hand clutching the neck
of Watson's coat he pulled to the side of the upturned boat. To this he
held with his right hand like grim death, as he put his left arm around
Watson's waist. The boy was panting for breath, and as weak as if he had
been swimming for miles. Not until now had he thoroughly realized how
hunger, exposure and privation had done their work. The next instant he
felt a gentle paddling near him; he looked down and there was Waggie's wet
but plucky little face.

"Hello! old boy," said George. "I would rather drown myself than see you
go under. So here goes!"

He released his hold of Watson and by a quick movement swung Waggie to the
upturned bottom of the boat, near the keel. The tiny animal gave a bark
that said "Thank you," as plainly as if he had spelled out every letter of
the two words. George again seized Watson and clung to the boat more
tightly than before. The soldier gradually came back to consciousness.

"What have I done?" he asked, staring wildly at the hot sun above him.

"Nothing!" answered George. "Only try to hold on to the boat. For I'm so
worn out that it's all I can do to keep myself up."

Watson clawed frantically at the gunwale. At last he managed to grasp it
with his tired, bony fingers.

"I can't hold on much longer!" suddenly said George, in a faint voice. His
hands were numb; he felt as if he had not one particle of strength left in
his emaciated body. His mind began to wander. He forgot that he was in the
Gulf of Mexico; he thought he was holding on to a horse. By and by the
horse began to move. Could he keep his grasp on the animal? No; not much
longer. The horse started to canter, and the boy felt himself slipping
backward. In reality he had