It was not easy to paddle out through the grass and moss to the
open water, but Ned accomplished it. Standing up in the canoe, he
searched for the other paddle and soon saw and recovered it. He had
now more than a mile to paddle against a tide that was still strong,
and he saw, to his alarm, that it was nearly sunset. It was about
midday when they tackled the manatee, and Dick must have been alone
with it for a good many hours. Ned was so anxious that he paddled
furiously and was glad enough when he found Dick standing in water
shoulder deep, hanging on to the flipper of the manatee, and
occasionally patting its nose with his hand.

[Illustration: "HE FOUND DICK STANDING IN WATER SHOULDER DEEP,
HANGING ON TO THE FLIPPER OF THE MANATEE"]

"Oh, Ned! I'm glad to see you," was Dick's greeting to his chum. "A
hundred times, I've almost let this beast go so that I could swim
down the river and look for you. If I hadn't heard you coming a few
minutes ago I'd have been off by now, anyhow."

"What could you have done, swimming down a big river like this, in
the dark?"

"What could I have done here, or back in camp, without you, Ned?"

Ned gave an amusing account of his adventures and made fun of his
fears.

"Now tell me what happened to you, in those long hours. Did you get
scared, too, Dick?"

"Most of my scare was about you, though I did have one or two little
troubles of my own. For a good while after you swam away the baby
behaved like a cherub. He let me put my arm around him, as far as it
would go, and when I rubbed his soft mouth with my hand he seemed to
like it. Then, suddenly he lashed out with his tail, threw me off my
feet and carried me out into deep water. I don't quite know how I
managed to turn him around and get back with him into shoal water. I
know I was under water a good deal and got very much out of breath.
I guess, though, from the grip I kept on that baby's nose, that he
was short of wind himself. Anyhow, when we got back and I let go,
he lifted his head out of water and sniffed and snorted like a cow
with the consumption. Then, just as I was feeling pretty good and
thinking what a nice nurse for a manatee baby I was and what an easy
job it seemed, I got a terrible jar.

"Something punched me gently in the back, and when I turned my head
I saw a monster that must have been twelve feet long, and weighed a
ton or two. It was Baby's ma! She poked her nose all over him and
even rubbed it against my