"Oh! but they may be drowned!" gasped Jennie.

"Nothing of the sort. This is only a little wind, and it will soon die down. If those Rovers have to break their backs rowing, it will do 'em good!"

"If you don't tow us in, you'll be the meanest fellow on earth," sang out Andy.

"I wouldn't have your disposition for a million dollars," added his twin.

"Aw! go chase yourselves!" retorted Slugger Brown, heartlessly.

"We're not helping fellows like you," came from Nappy Martell. Then the motor boat pa.s.sed on and was soon all but lost in the distance.

"Of all the mean people!" cried Ruth.

"I shouldn't think Jennie Mason would stand for such meanness,"

declared May. "Nor Ida Brierley, either."

The motor boat having gone on and left them to their fate, the Rover boys continued pulling on the oars. It was hard, laborious work, and soon Andy and Fred were all but exhausted. Jack and Randy, however, had now gotten their second wind, so to speak, and they continued their efforts with unabated vigor.

"It was as mean as dirt for them to leave us out here when they could have towed us in with ease," panted Fred. "Just you wait--I'll let the whole school know of this!"

"Don't talk! Save your wind. We can talk afterwards," returned his cousin.

The next quarter of an hour was one which none of the girls or boys ever forgot. The Rovers continued to battle with the wind and the waves with all the energy left to them, while the girls crouched down on the seats almost speechless with fear. Occasionally, the waves would hit the bow of one rowboat or the other, sending a shower of water over the occupants.

"I--think--it's--letting up--a--bit," panted Jack, presently, and glanced up at the sky.

"Oh, if only it would!" breathed Ruth.

The boat containing the others had dropped slightly behind, but now Jack and Fred held back until it was once more alongside.

"Oh, did you ever see such a storm!" wailed Alice.

"I don't think I'll ever want to go out in a rowboat again," was Annie's bitter comment.

"I think the wind is beginning to die down," said Ruth, encouragingly.

"Let--us--hope--so," came in jerks from Jack. He was still rowing, but his arms felt as if they were being torn from their sockets.

They had now covered nearly half the distance to the upper end of the lake, but they were just as far from the western sh.o.r.e as ever. Now, however, as the wind began to die down, they turned slightly in the direction of Haven Point.

"It won't matter where we land," declared Ruth. "We can easily walk back to the school."

The sun was still under a cloud, but now the wind went down more than ever. The surface of the lake, however, was still much troubled, and the boys had all they could do to make any progress towards the sh.o.r.e.

"Oh, you must be very tired!" said Ruth to Jack.

"Never--mind--we'll--reach--sh.o.r.e--somehow," he answered. Then she said no more, because she knew it was painful for him to speak.

The four boys continued to row on, and in about a quarter of an hour came within plain view of the sh.o.r.e, at a point some distance beyond Clearwater Hall and the town.

"Oh, look! Something is the matter down by the lumber yards," remarked Alice, presently. "See the men running!" She pointed, and those in both rowboats looked in that direction.

"I don't see anything wrong," said Ruth.

"I do!" cried May, and gave a little shriek. "Look! look! A whole lot of lumber is drifting this way!"

"Some--thing--broken--lose," gasped Jack. "Maybe--a--lumber--raft."

And that was just what had happened. In a manner to be explained later, a lumber raft being towed up the lake by a steam tug had not only broken away, but likewise had broken apart, and the timbers which had composed it were now floating around over a large area of Clearwater Lake.

In another minute the two rowboats were in the very midst of the drifting timbers and in great danger of being upset.

CHAPTER XXI

a.s.sISTANCE REFUSED

"My gracious! look at the lumber floating around!"

"Be careful, boys! Don't get hit if you can help it!"

"One of those timbers is heavy enough to send us to the bottom!"

"Oh, dear! Do you think we'll be smashed up?"

Such were some of the cries which rent the air as the Rover boys and the girls with them found themselves in the midst of the wreckage from the broken-apart lumber raft.

On all sides of them heavy sticks of timber were bobbing up and down on the whitecaps, and presently one of these b.u.mped into the craft occupied by Jack and Fred and two of the girls. The rowboat careened so much that quite a large quant.i.ty of water was shipped, which made Ruth and May scream in fright.

"Stand up in the bow, Fred, and see if you--can--ward--them--off!"

gasped Jack as well as his semi-exhausted condition would permit. "I'll stick to--the--oars."

He knew he must keep the rowboat headed up into the wind, for the squall had not yet subsided sufficiently to allow of their taking it sidewise.

A moment later came a cry from the other rowboat as the craft slipped up and over several large sticks of timber.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CRAFT SLIPPED UP AND OVER SEVERAL LARGE STICKS OF TIMBER.

_Page_ 207]

"Gosh! that was a narrow escape!" was Andy's comment, as the craft finally righted itself.

"Oh, dear! if only we were on sh.o.r.e once more!" wailed Annie, for at least the tenth time.

"I never dreamed that we would have such a dreadful experience as this!" came from Alice.

Randy said nothing, but continued to row, while Andy did the same as Fred was doing, both trying their best to ward off the heavy sticks which came floating towards them every minute or two.