"Well, it drifted off somewhere downstream," the Cub leader replied. "If we're lucky, it may lodge some place fairly close. Then again, this swift current is likely to carry it miles. If any damage is done I'll either buy a new boat or see that it is properly repaired."

"Now don't give that a thought," the Den Dad cut in. "We'll find the boat tomorrow." He turned to Chips, clapping him on the shoulder. "Don't look so glum, lad. No one blames you for the accident."

"It's not just the boat I'm thinking about," the boy answered. "The Indian headdress was lying on the seat when it floated away."

"Then there goes the Den's chance to win first prize at the Pack exhibition!" exclaimed Red. "Gosh! After all the work we did on that headdress!"

"How did you happen to lose it?" Fred asked in a discouraged voice.

Chips explained that he had left the feather piece lying on the boat seat when he and Mr. Hatfield had gone to the rescue of Mrs. Dustin and her two children. Upon their return, both the boat and the headdress had floated away.

"We'll never enter it in the compet.i.tion now," he ended in disgust. "The boat may be found, but the headdress is sure to be a mess after lying out all night in the weather."

Loss of the handicraft article upon which the Den had pinned hope of victory in the Pack exhibition, thoroughly discouraged the Cubs. However, because Chips already blamed himself for the loss, they said little about it.

"There's an outside chance the boat may have lodged at the Fulton bridge, a quarter of a mile down river," Mr. Hatfield remarked thoughtfully. "The current would carry it in that direction. I think I'll drive that way on my way home."

Brad and Dan immediately sought permission to accompany the Cub leader.

"I'll be glad to have you," Mr. Hatfield said. "Better telephone your parents and tell them not to bother to pick you up. I'll drive you home after we've looked for the boat."

Eager to be off, Mr. Hatfield borrowed a lantern from Midge's father.

With Brad and Dan, he then selected the main highway which would take the car across the Fulton bridge.

"It's too late for us to make an extensive search for the boat tonight,"

he remarked as they drove along. "The chances are it will drift miles from Rabb Island. All the same, we'll keep our eyes peeled."

Under the pale light of the moon, the boys caught occasional glimpses of the racing river. At the bridge where rolling waves dashed against the stone supports, Mr. Hatfield halted the car for a better view.

Gazing down over the cement railing, Dan and Brad saw boxes, boards, logs and miscellaneous debris swept past. Other refuse of the river had lodged in quieter waters. Foam rose in a soapy sea around the bridge pillars where the waves slapped high.

But there was no sign of the missing boat.

"Guess it was too much to expect," Mr. Hatfield said, turning away from the railing. "Well, nothing to do but organize a search tomorrow. I'm afraid though, that the boat will be badly battered by the time we recover it."

Mr. Hatfield and the Cubs returned to the parked automobile and drove on.

For a short distance the highway curled close to the rivers edge. At one point, shallow water flooded the pavement.

The car churned through it without the engine damping out. But a short distance ahead they came to another area of flooded pavement, more extensive and apparently much deeper.

"Wonder if we can make it?" Mr. Hatfield remarked.

Doubtful that the car could negotiate the water, he parked and walked down the road to investigate. Brad and Dan also alighted, following the Cub leader.

"We probably can get through all right," Mr. Hatfield said after making an inspection. "But there's likely to be more water ahead. Perhaps we'd better go back and take another road."

While Brad and the Cub leader discussed what to do, Dan, who had been gazing out across the dark ribbon of river, suddenly noticed a shadowy object lodged some ten yards from sh.o.r.e.

"Mr. Hatfield!" he exclaimed. "Look over there! Could that be our missing boat?"

The Cub leader flashed his light on the area in the river which Dan indicated. A rowboat, plainly the one which had floated away from Rabb Island, had snagged against a bush in the backwash of the flooded river.

"Sure enough, it's Mr. Holloway's boat!" the Cub leader exclaimed. "You have keen eyesight, Dan!"

"The boat doesn't look as if it will hold there very long," Brad observed anxiously. "See! The current is teetering it back and forth now!"

"If only we had another boat, we could go after it," Mr. Hatfield said.

"By morning, it may not be here."

As the three watched, the swift current caught the craft and swung it slightly to the left.

"It's holding by a breath and a prayer," Dan said. "Any minute it will float away and that may be the last we'll ever see of it."

"Couldn't we wade out and bring the boat in?" proposed Brad. "The current is swift, but the water shouldn't be too deep here close to sh.o.r.e."

"It's over your head and mine part of the way, Brad. And neither of us cla.s.sifies as an expert swimmer."

"But I do," spoke up Dan. Then he corrected himself: "I don't mean to hold myself out as an expert, but I'm considered pretty good at the Y.

Mr. Hatfield, I could take off my shoes and wade out there. I wouldn't have to swim except the last few yards."

"It's too dangerous, Dan. The current is treacherously swift. It might sweep you past the boat and on down river."

"But if I don't try, we'll lose the boat," Dan argued. "And the Indian feather headdress! The Cubs were counting on it to win the Pack handicraft exhibition."

"Mr. Holloway's boat is worth considerable money," Brad added, swinging toward support of Dan's plea. "If only we could get it now before it's damaged-"

"I know I could swim out there," Dan argued. "At the Y I've done three times that distance without even tiring."

"But not in a swift current, Dan," the Cub leader said.

"I'll be swimming downstream, not against the current, Mr. Hatfield.

Please let me try."

"Dan, it's too risky. If I could swim worth a cent myself-"

"You can't," said Dan. "That's why you're afraid to let me try. I know my own strength in the water. I can do it easily."

Mr. Hatfield smiled and stood a moment studying the current which eddied about the half-submerged bush and the boat.

"I believe there's a rope in the back of the car," he said finally. "If it's long enough we may be able to do something."

Fetching the rope, he coiled it carefully and tested its length by tossing it far out into the river. It fell only a few feet short of the boat.

"My throw was weak," the Cub leader said. "The rope actually is long enough to reach. Dan, you're dead sure you want to try this?"

"Rarin' to go!"

"Then strip to your shorts. You'll need freedom of movement."