Jack of Both Sides | Page 5

Simmons was
swimming towards Toppin. Bacon was now preparing to take a header.

"I say, Lucy, you're not a tall chap. No more aren't I. Why can't I swim
and dive?"
"It isn't size that's needed, it's talent," observed Simmons, treading
water, as he winked at the little fellow.
"Rot!" said Toppin decidedly. There was a loud splash. Bacon had
vanished.
"Up he comes again!" cried Toppin, clapping his hands in an ecstasy.
"Oh, I'm going to dive to-day. You can see how easy it is. Let me have
a shot before the others come, case I fail."
"Better wait a year or two, Top," said Simmons, deliberately turning a
somersault.
"I'm bovvered if I do!" cried Toppin, scampering round to the
diving-board. He was in a state of great excitement. "I'm going to dive,
and turn head over heels, and stamp in the water, just like you."
"Oh, let the nipper see what he can do!" said Armitage, laughing. He
was standing on the diving-board. "There's nothing like beginning early.
Can you swim, kiddie?"
"Not--not far," said Toppin cautiously. "I can swim with my arms all
right, only I sometimes put one foot on the ground."
"If you don't swim, you'll sink, you know," explained Armitage. "This
is deep water."
"Not so very; only five feet," rejoined Toppin. "I'm not funky. Of
course I know how to swim. I've watched frogs awfully closely."
"Well, then, up with your hands--same as you saw the other two."
Toppin lifted them high, the tips of his fingers met in the approved
style, and he took a long breath. Then, gradually, his hands fell back to
his sides, and the breath ended in a sigh. Armitage pushed the child
impatiently aside.

"Get away, you silly little coward! I'm not going to waste my time
standing over you. Go back to the shallow end, and dance at the ropes.
We'll come over and duck you."
Toppin was quivering, but his face flushed crimson, and, thrusting
himself forward once more, he laid a hand pleadingly on Armitage's
wrist. At the same moment a clatter on the stone stairs told of the
approach of section number two.
"Give us one more chance, Armie, please! I promise not to funk it
again. Listen, they're just coming!"
"You'll not do it," said Armitage.
"Won't I, though! Look here! count three, and then give me a tiny
push."
As Jack and the March Hare entered the saloon they heard Armitage
say, "Very well. One, two, three; now go!"
There was a faint, quickly-checked cry, and then a little splash. Toppin
was under the water.
The same instant the March Hare--hat, boots, and all--had leapt in, and
was fighting his way towards the deep end.
Jack's first impulse was to tear off his coat and follow the Hare's
example; but when he saw a little red head appear and immediately be
captured, and when he realized that Bacon, Simmons, and Armitage
were all swimming to the rescue, he refrained.
Although the March Hare was the first to lay hold of Toppin's crest, the
next minute he was himself in need of rescue. The Hare had only
advanced to the swimming stage when both hands and feet are
absolutely necessary, and the pause to seize his friend had sufficed,
when combined with the weight of his garments, to sink him; so
Toppin dived for the second time, in company with the March Hare.

"Quick!" yelled Jack, "or there'll be two drowned! Shall I come?"
[Illustration]
But the pair had risen again, and were clutched and violently wrenched
apart by Armitage and Bacon. For the March Hare's grip of the red
locks was very tight.
Bacon found Toppin fairly easy to land, but the Hare, in full walking
costume, was quite another matter, and Simmons's help was required.
Besides, Toppin kept quiet when commanded to, while the March Hare
fought and struggled, and had to have his head thumped severely.
Fortunately the steps were not far off, and Jack awaited them there.
He was frightened when he saw that Toppin's familiar little pink face
had changed to an ivory-white, and that his eyes were shut. Was he
senseless, or worse? Jack grasped the small, dripping body in his arms,
and staggered to where the bell hung that summoned the attendant. He
pealed it loudly, and sank down beneath it to wait. Other boys had
arrived during the incident, and were now pressing round, questioning
and jabbering. Jack had nothing to say to them. He was hard at work
chafing the motionless form, and his brain was in a whirl. What if
Toppin never moved or spoke again!
Suddenly the eyelids lifted: Toppin looked straight into Jack's face.
"May I move now?" he asked innocently. Oh, what a relief it was to
hear his voice!
"You