g again.

"I must save him!" muttered Dick to himself, and, without an instant's
hesitation, he leaped overboard.

"Dick! Tom!" The cry was uttered by Sam as he came running out of
the houseboat, hatless and in his shirt sleeves.

The fallen tree obstructed his view, and it was several seconds before
he caught sight of his brothers in the water.

"Dick!" he yelled. "What's the matter?"

"Throw me a rope," was the answer, and it did not take Sam long to
obey instructions. Then Dick caught Tom under the shoulders, and both
were hauled back to the side of the _Dora_.

"Did the tree knock you overboard?" asked Sam anxiously.

"It knocked Tom over," answered Dick.

Just as he was placed on deck again, Tom opened his eyes and stared
around him.

"Who--where am I?" he demanded faintly.

"You are safe, Tom," answered Dick kindly. "Don't you remember, the
tree knocked you overboard?"

"Oh!" The fun-loving Rover drew a long breath. "Did you fish me out?"

"I jumped in after you, and Sam fished us both out."

"Good enough."

By this time some of the others were stepping forth from the wreck
of the cabin. All were more or less excited, and the girls and ladies
came out hatless and coatless despite the rain, which now seemed to
come down with renewed fury, as if to add to their misery.

"Is anybody hurt?" demanded Dick.

"I was hit by a broken board," answered Mrs. Laning. "But it scared
me more than anything else."

"One of the broken windows came in on me and covered me with glass,"
came from Songbird. "But wasn't that a crack of thunder! I thought
it was the crack of doom!"

"And were you really hurled overboard?" asked Nellie, rushing up to
Tom and almost embracing him. "You poor boy! How glad I am that you
were not drowned!"

"Well, come to think of it, I'm glad myself," he returned with a
little smile.

"Oh, Tom, it's nothing to joke about!"

"That is true, Nellie."

"Say, I ton't vont no more oxcitements like dot!" cried Hans. "I vos
schared out of mine vits alretty, ain't it!"

"We were all scared," said Fred. "But hadn't we better get inside
again? We are all getting wet to the skin."

"The cabin is in an awful mess," declared Dora, and she told the
truth. Daylight was streaming through a hole in one corner and the
rain was entering in a stream.

"Let us get a tarpaulin and cover that hole," said Dick. "I'll do
it," he added. "I can't get any wetter than I am," and he gave a
short laugh.