's heart sank and he quivered with fear. Must he be drowned
there all alone? Was there no one to aid him?

Thoroughly terrified, he began to scream. But his screams only reechoed
from the silent river banks. No one heard and no one came.

He was in the current of the stream now and moving rapidly along.
Faster and faster he went. Yes, he was going to be swept on to
Freeman's Falls, going to be carried over the dam and submerged beneath
that hideous roar of water that foamed down on the jagged rocks in a
boiling torrent of noise and spray. Nobody would know his plight until
the catastrophe was over; and even should any of the mill hands catch
sight of his frail craft as it sped past it would be too late for them
to help him. Before a boat could be launched and rescuers summoned he
would be over the falls.

Yes, he was going to die, _to die_!

Again he screamed, this time less with a thought of calling for help
than as a protest against the fate awaiting him. To his surprise he
heard an answering shout and a second later saw Ted Turner dash through
the pines, pause on the shore, and scan the stream. Another instant and
the boy had thrown off his coat and shoes and was in the water,
swimming toward the boat with quick, overhand strokes.

[Illustration: He heard an answering shout and a second later saw Ted
Turner dash through the pines. _Page_ 88.]

"Keep perfectly still, Laurie!" he panted. "You're all right. Just
don't get fussed."

Yet cheering as were the words, they could not conceal the fact that
Ted was frightened, terribly frightened.

The canoe gained headway with the increasing current. It seemed now to
leap along. And in just the proportion that its progress was
accelerated, the speed of the pursuer lessened. It seemed as if Ted
would never overtake his prize. How they raced one another, the bobbing
craft and the breathless boy! Ted Turner was a strong swimmer but the
canoe with its solitary occupant was so light that it shot over the
surface of the water like a feather.

Was the contest to be a losing one, after all?

Laurie, looking back at the wake of the boat, saw Ted's arm move slower
and slower and suddenly a wave of realization of the other's danger
came upon him. They might both be drowned,--two of them instead of one!

"Give it up, old man!" he called bravely. "Don't try any more. You may
go down yourself and I should have to die with that misery on my soul.
You've done your best. It's all