JUST IN TIME
There was a wild shout as the other boys followed, and they were close
on Bobby’s heels when he reached the boathouse.
There were several boats in the house, most of them laid up in canvas
coverings, as the weather was becoming so cold that the lake offered no
special attraction. One boat, however, and luckily the one nearest the
doors, was available, and to this Bobby rushed.
“Lend a hand, some of you fellows!” he called. “Some one get two pairs
of oars from the rack. Hurry now! We can’t waste a second.”
In a moment the oars were handed down and put in the boat and Bobby had
thrown open the sliding doors.
Willing hands helped him to push the boat down the slanting way that led
to the float.
“Four of us can go in this,” cried Bobby. “You, Fred, and you, Sparrow,
and—”
“Let me go,” begged Lee, whose eyes were burning with excitement. “I’ve
had a good deal of practice in rowing and I can handle an oar as well as
any one.”
“All right,” agreed Bobby. “Into the water now with the boat.”
The rowboat was shoved into the water and held to the float by Skeets
and Shiner, while Bobby and his three mates tumbled in, grasped the oars
and pulled off.
By this time it was plainly to be seen that the endangered boat was much
lower in the water than it was when it had first been seen. The gunwales
were almost flush with the level of the lake, and the two who had been
rowing had abandoned the oars, as it was impossible to drag the heavily
laden water-logged boat through the water. The occupants had thrown off
their coats, and two of them were tugging away at their shoes,
preparatory to the swim for life that seemed inevitable.
The boys who were left on the shore waved their hands frantically,
shouting to the boys in the sinking boat not to jump, and pointing to
the other boat that was coming to their assistance.
In the meantime, Bobby and his companions were bending to the oars
lustily and putting all their strength into every stroke.
“Keep at it, fellows!” panted Bobby, while the perspiration rolled down
his face. “Don’t stop to look behind. I’ll take a look once in a while
just so as to keep the boat steering right. Pull with all your might!”
His comrades needed no urging, and the boat leaped through the water
with a speed that rapidly cut down the space that still intervened
between it and the sinking craft.
For sinking it was now beyond a doubt. The occupants had for the moment
abandoned the design of springing overboard, and were baling
frantically, using their caps and sweaters and hands in the effort to
keep the doomed boat afloat until their rescuers could reach them.
“If they can only keep afloat two minutes more!” gasped Bobby, as a
glance behind showed him the awful danger. “Don’t spare yourself,
fellows. It may mean life or death. Just two minutes more and we’ll get
them.”
But the two minutes grace could not be granted. They had got within
perhaps a hundred feet, when there was a desperate cry from the inmates
of the sinking boat, which was echoed from the watching crowd on the
shore. The next instant the boat went down by the bow, and its four
occupants were struggling in the lake.
“Pull, fellows, pull!” Bobby fairly screamed, bending almost double with
his own exertions.
And while the other rescuers were following his example, it may be well
for the benefit of those who have not read the earlier volumes of this
series, to trace briefly his adventures and those of his friends up to
the time this story opens.
Bobby Blake was a bright, wide-awake American boy, who had been brought
up in the small but prosperous inland village of Clinton. He was the
only son of parents who were in comfortable circumstances. Bobby was
frank, merry and straightforward, and a great favorite with the boys of
his own age, of whom he was the natural leader.
Bobby’s special chum was Fred Martin, son of a Clinton business man, who
lived only a few doors away from the Blakes. Fred was freckled,
redhaired, and had the hot impulsive temper that often goes with that
color of hair. But he was good and generous of heart, and he and Bobby
got on famously together. Fred was constantly getting into trouble of
one kind or another, and Bobby was kept busy trying to prevent his
friend from reaping the consequences of his quick temper. Bobby never
looked for trouble, though he was always ready to defend his rights and
would not let himself be imposed on. The boys were inseparable, and
wherever one was found the other was pretty sure not to be far away.
When Bobby was ten years old, Mr. Blake was suddenly called away on
business to South America, and as Mrs. Blake was going with him, it
became necessary to send the lad away to boarding school. Bobby and Fred
were feeling very badly over the prospect of their being separated,
when, to the delight of both, their parents decided to send them to
Rockledge School together. The school was a fine one, located on a
beautiful sheet of water called Monatook Lake. Here the chums found that
they had to study hard, but they also had lots of fun and adventure.
Some bullies tried to tyrannize over them, but failed in the attempt,
and how Bobby came out ahead of them is told in the first volume of the
series, entitled: “Bobby Blake at Rockledge School.”
Vacation time found Bobby spending a few weeks at the summer home of
Perry Wise, or “Pee Wee,” the big, fat boy whose laziness and enormous
appetite were a source of good-natured fun for all the Rockledge boys.
Here they had a great variety of sports, for the home was on the sea
coast and there were abundant opportunities for swimming, boating and
fishing. The hunt for a missing motor boat added greatly to the
excitement of their visit.
Their stay was cut short by a message from Bobby’s parents to meet them
at Porto Rico, where they expected to stop on their homeward journey.
Bobby was wild to meet them, the more so because at one time their ship
had been reported as shipwrecked and lost. It was arranged that Fred
should go with him, and the boys embarked in high spirits. Their ship
caught fire, however, and they with others found themselves adrift,
landing at last on a volcanic island, narrowly escaping with their
lives.
“The fellows at Rockledge will hardly believe us when we tell them all
we’ve gone through,” declared Bobby, as they were on their way home.
“It will sound as if we were stretching things,” admitted Fred, “but I
guess they’ll believe us when we cross our hearts. Anyway, we know it’s
true.”
They found the Fall term at Rockledge full of sport and interest and
they had some surprising experiences. Many of these were due to the warm
rivalry that existed between Rockledge and Belden School, a rival
institution on the further side of Monatook Lake.
When the Christmas holidays came, Bobby and a number of his special
chums were invited to visit Snowtop Camp belonging to an uncle of
“Mouser” Pryde. This was up in the Big Woods. There were wildcats near
there, to say nothing of a big bear that made lots of trouble for them
before the boys got the best of him. There was a snowslide too that
buried their house and gave them some lively work to dig themselves out.
With the coming of Spring, the boys of Rockledge were alive with
enthusiasm over baseball. Bobby and Fred became members of the Rockledge
nine, and it was Bobby’s fine work as a pitcher in the most important
games that enabled the Rockledge boys to beat Belden out and win the
baseball championship of the school league.
“I tell you what, he just had the Belden fellows eating out of his
hand,” was the way Jimmy Ailshine, or “Shiner,” as he was called,
expressed his opinion of Bobby’s work in the box.
An entirely new experience came to Bobby when he and Fred and several of
their schoolboy friends went out West to a ranch owned by a relative of
Sparrow Bangs. Here they made friends with the cowboys and learned to
ride, and they also fell in with a moving picture company and took part
in the making of a film. The way they discovered the plot of some
Mexicans and lawless characters and were able to thwart it forms the
subject of a very exciting story.
There was still a part of their vacation left, when they returned from
the ranch, and Skeets Brody urged them to spend this in making a trip in
his father’s automobile. A copperhead snake that took possession of
their cave furnished an exciting feature of the trip, which was further
enlivened by an encounter with gypsies. They rescued two little children
from these vagabonds of the road, though at considerable risk to
themselves, and had the good fortune to restore them to their father.
The boys returned to school in high spirits, and in the intervals of
their studies practiced strenuously in order to “make” the football
team. This time there were two other schools besides Belden that they
had to battle with, and they found their work cut out for them. In fact
they came within an ace of losing the deciding game, but how Bobby rose
to the occasion and carried the ball over the goal line for a touchdown
and a glorious victory is told in the volume preceding this, entitled:
“Bobby Blake On the School Eleven; or, Winning the Banner of Blue and
Gold.”
And now on the very day following that victory, we see Bobby working as
he had never worked before, to save the inmates of the sinking boat from
death in the icy waters of the lake.
The boys who had been thrown into the water when the boat went down rose
to the surface, dashed the water from their eyes and looked wildly about
them.
They spied the advancing boat, which was now close at hand, and two of
them struck out for it. A third tried to swim, but seemed to be so
chilled and bewildered that he could make no progress. He did manage,
however, to keep his head above water. The fourth, it was evident could
not swim at all. He splashed about feebly for a moment and then sank.
By this time Bobby’s boat was right among them. The two foremost
swimmers grabbed the stern, as the boys suspended rowing. Bobby reached
over and grabbed a third one, who almost pulled him out of the boat.
Just then the water broke alongside and the head of the boy who had gone
down appeared. His eyes were glassy, and he was almost unconscious. Lee
was the nearest one to him and reached over to grab him. He caught his
hair, but the drowning boy’s weight was too great, and the boat tipped
so sharply that Lee was dragged over the gunwale.
He came up spluttering and gasping, but still holding on to the other.
Bobby surrendered the boy he was holding to Fred, and grasping an oar
held it out to Lee. The latter caught it and Bobby pulled him up to the
side of the boat.
“Take him in first!” gasped Lee, indicating his helpless burden. “I can
hold on to the boat.”
By using all their strength and being especially careful not to upset
the boat, the rescuers lifted the half drowned boy on board. Then came
Lee’s turn and that of the other three, two of whom managed to clamber
over without help.
“Now,” said Bobby with a sigh of relief, when all were safely in the
boat. “We’ve got to work like beavers to get back to shore. It’s no joke
to be soaked to the skin on so cold a day as this. Here, Lee,” he went
on, turning to the shivering lad, “take this coat of mine.”
“I won’t do it,” said Lee, “You need it yourself.”
“Not a bit of it,” replied Bobby. “I’ve been rowing so hard I’m all in a
sweat, and the work getting home will keep me warmer than I’ll want to
be. You’ve just got to take it.”
Despite Lee’s protest, Bobby put the coat around him. Fred and Sparrow
followed suit with regard to the other boys, whom they made lie down in
the boat so as to escape the wind. Then they took the oars and pulled
vigorously for the shore.
Cheers greeted them as they approached. The news of what was going on
had spread like wildfire, and all of Rockledge School was down at the
shore, including Doctor Raymond, the head of the institution, and Mr.
Leith and Mr. Carrier, two teachers. A doctor also had been summoned and
many of the townspeople had hurried on foot and in autos to the spot.
There was a hubbub of excited exclamations, as the boat reached the
little landing stage. The spectators had seen the figures dragged
aboard, but from that distance could not tell whether some of them were
alive or dead.
The moment the boat slid alongside the float, eager hands were
outstretched to help, and great was the relief when it was found that no
life had been lost.
The rescued ones were hurried up to the school, where their wet clothes
were stripped from them and they were given hot drinks and placed
between warm blankets.
Doctor Raymond was so busy in supervising this work that he had no time
more than to tell the rescuers that he was proud of them and would see
them later in his study. But others crowded around them and made much of
them, while showering them with questions.
“It was nothing at all,” said Bobby with characteristic modesty. “We
simply happened to be nearest and the boat was handy and we piled in and
rowed out to them. Any one else would have done the same if the chance
had come to them, and you fellows are making too much out of it.”
“That’s all very well,” said Skeets Brody with a grin, “but I notice
just the same that when anything has to be done and done in a hurry it’s
Bobby Blake that’s ‘Johnny on the spot’.”