would speedily rise, although not
just where he went down, and he kept his eyes on the water so as
to determine the spot at which he would come up.

He presently detected a certain motion of the water at a point a
little to one side of his course, and in a moment steered his boat
for that place, but not at too great speed.

He had calculated right, for when the boy came up Jack was within
two feet of him and quickly made up the distance, reached out,
caught him under the arms, and, by a dexterous move, lifted him
into the boat.

The boy was nearly exhausted, but upon Jack's speaking cheerily
to him, he revived sufficiently to assist his rescuer, and his
getting into the boat was attended with no accident.

He collapsed when he was in, however, and Jack put for the shore
at a rapid pace, a number of the boys being ready to take the
fainting boy out as they came up the shelving beach.

"Why didn't you go to the boy's aid, Herring?" asked Percival,
as the bully came in. "Couldn't you see that he had a cramp?"

"I have had that trick played on me before," retorted Herring in
a surly tone. "How was I to know that it was real?"

"Our boys do not resort to such tricks?" declared the leader of the
visiting team warmly, "and I do not think that the Hilltop boys in
general can be accused of doing so."

"I don't know what you fellows do," said the other in the same
surly tone, "because I have seen very little of you, but I know
that that trick has been worked on me before, and I was prepared
for anything. That's why I did not go to help him. Why didn't his
own chum do it?"

"You were nearer," said Dick, and then he went away to see how the
other boy was coming along.

Fortunately, he was out of danger, and was doing very well so that
it was not necessary to stop the games, but Herring did not again
have anything to do and shortly left the camp, and went off into
the woods with Holt, leaving Merritt to finish the final of the flat
race, losing to the boys from the other camp.

Jack won the race for motor-boats against a considerable fleet, and
was the most popular boy in camp, not only on this account, but
because of his timely action at the moment of danger whereby a
catastrophe was averted.

"That's only another time when Jack Sheldon has shown his nerve,"
declared Harry warmly. "Why, the very first time I met him he saved
a mighty bad situation by his coolness, and he has been doing
those things ever since