and Jimmy, and thus it came about
that Bobby did not lose his head when the iceberg began to turn, and
when it was again at rest he found himself upon a high pinnacle, with
the seething waters all around him. To be sure, his heart beat faster,
and it was but natural that he should be excited, but his nerves were
nevertheless under control, and his wits, too.
From his perch upon the iceberg Bobby looked eagerly for Jimmy and the
skiff. He feared that some of the ponderous blocks of ice had fallen
upon them and crushed them, and the thought made him heart-sick for an
instant.
But presently he saw the skiff, filled with water and smothering in the
swell, and a moment later he discovered Jimmy, also smothering in the
swell, but swimming vigorously toward the iceberg. This brought him vast
relief. Jimmy was alive and apparently uninjured, and the whole
adventure became to Bobby at once an ordinary occurrence of their
every-day life, for which he was mightily thankful. To be sure it was an
unpleasant and annoying adventure, but they would escape from it, he had
no doubt, none the worse for their experience. And in this frame of mind
he clambered down the slippery sides of the ice hill to a level spot at
the water's edge, shouting in the most matter-of-fact way, as he did so:
"This way, Jimmy! This way! You can climb aboard here!"
In a few strokes Jimmy came alongside, and Bobby, taking his hand,
helped him to scramble, shivering, to the ice.
"My, Bobby, but I was glad to see you here!" Jimmy exclaimed through his
chattering teeth. "I was afraid you were done for! I was afraid it
carried you under when it turned."
"I was afraid you were done for, too!" and there was thanksgiving in
Bobby's voice. "How did it happen you got into the water? Did the ice
hit the skiff?"
"I don't know how it happened," said Jimmy. "I don't think the ice hit
the skiff, but it all came so suddenly I don't know."
"Well, here we are, and out there's the boat, and we've got to get it,"
declared Bobby. "I'm going for it."
"No, let me go. I'm wet anyhow, and I'm all right for it," Jimmy
protested. "I might have brought it in with me, but I didn't see it."
"I'm going," declared Bobby, with an accent that left no doubt he was,
as he pulled off his clothes, and his sealskin boots. "You've had your
dip, and I'm going to have one now--the first of the year."
"It's pretty cold," Jimmy cautioned. "I've been in, and I'm used to it,
and do
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