ve Moosetail Island, for to reach
this spot by going straight out in the stream would have been
impossible.

It was a long, hard, and dangerous trip, and all drew a deep breath of
relief when they finally set foot on the island. At times they had
been in water up to their waists and it had looked as if they must
surely be swept away. Once a tree branch, coming swiftly along, had
caught Dave and literally carried him off his feet for several yards.

They landed at one end of the island, at a point where the bushes were
still two feet under water. The evidences of the flood were on every
hand, and the water was muddy and filled with broken-away brushwood
and trees.

"I guess we had better strike out for the camp," said Dave. "Phil
would go there if he went anywhere."

As they advanced one or another gave a loud call. But no answer came
back, and this made them look gravely at each other. Was the perilous
trip to the island to prove a vain one?

In a quarter of an hour they came in sight of the camp. The cove had
been blotted out, and the water was eddying around the cabin to a
depth of several inches. Mud was everywhere, inside the place and out,
and this showed that the flood had swept the spot at a height of
several feet.

"We might have stayed here," was Buster's comment. "It didn't hurt the
big tree."

"But we didn't know how bad it was going to be," answered Ben. "It
might have washed away the whole island."

"Let us go up to the high ground and look for Phil," suggested Dave.
"Maybe he went to the highest spot he could find."

The others agreed, and leaving the camp-worker at the cabin, the boys,
led by Buster, tramped through the wet and mud to a little hill. Again
they set up their calls, but, as before, no answer came back.

"I don't believe he came here," said Ben, at last. "If he was here he
would surely hear us."

"Unless he was hurt and couldn't answer," returned Dave.

From the top of the little hill they could see both ends of Moosetail
Island and also both shores of the river. As they gazed about them,
Dave suddenly gave a shout.

"Look! look!" he cried, pointing to the shore which they had left but
a short while before. "There is somebody waving a handkerchief at
us!"

"It's Phil!" returned Ben.

"Are you sure?" questioned Buster. "I can see it is a man or a boy,
but that is all."

"It looks like Phil," said Dave. "Oh, I hope it is!"

CHAPTER XXVI

BACK TO THE SCHOOL

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