The Airplane Boys among the Clouds | Page 6

while he was speaking Larry had kicked one shoe off, and was
working to undo the stubborn lace of the other, which of course had to
get in a snarl as usual, exciting his nervous disposition to the utmost, as
he tugged away.
"Hold on! I'm afraid it's going to be too late!" exclaimed the other
occupant of the touring car, still keeping his eyes glued to the smaller

end of the marine glasses.
"Oh! is he going to fall in, sir?" gasped Elephant, in a quiver of fear, as
he shaded his eyes with both hands, and stared out across that glowing
stretch of water.
"There! he has done it!" cried the other; and all of them saw what
seemed to be a faint splash alongside of the drifting skiff. "No, strange
to say the little fellow has caught hold of the gunnel of the boat; and
while his body is in the lake, he continues to hold on desperately, just
keeping his head above the surface! But it can't last, it can't last! He
could not keep up that grip more than a minute at the most! This is
terrible; and all of us so helpless to save the child!"
He took the glasses down as though really unable to watch any longer.
But his companion did not seem to feel the same way, for he
immediately snatched them out of Mr. Marsh's hand, and clapped them
to his eyes.
"No use, boy, thinking of swimming out yonder," said Mr. Marsh,
seeing that Larry had finally broken the obstinate lace, and kicked the
shoe into the bushes. "Long before you could get near the boat it would
all be over. If anything is to be done, some one else will have to
engineer the rescue."
"And it's coming," shouted the other, just then. "Watch the biplane,
Marsh! The boys have seen the danger of the child! They are headed
for the drifting boat, and darting down again. Perhaps they mean to
alight in the water alongside, and pick the little chap up! Good!
Another ten seconds, and they will have arrived on the spot!"
Even Larry, barefooted now, and with both hands tightly clenched,
such was his wrought-up condition, stood and watched with burning
eyes as the aeroplane sank lower and lower in its forward swoop.
Undoubtedly the Bird boys had suddenly become aware of the dreadful
peril threatening the little chap belonging to the well known
Bloomsbury fisherman, who was every boy's friend; and meant to do
their level best to save Tommy from the watery grave that yawned to

receive him.
"Oh! it's too late!" suddenly cried Longley, staggering back as if he had
himself received a blow.
"What happened?" exclaimed his companion, hoarsely.
"The child let go! See, he is struggling in the water, but must disappear
before the aeroplane can alight, for it is still twenty feet above the lake.
Too bad! Too bad! They might have got him in another minute!"
"Look there! One of them has leaped into the lake! See that splash,
would you?" shrilled Larry, jumping up and down in his excitement.
"That was Andy, I reckon!" cried Elephant, climbing up on the side of
the car, the better to see, at this tremendously exciting stage of the
game. "He ain't afraid of anything; neither is Frank, for that matter.
And he just dove right down like a hawk after a breakfast of fish. Do
you see him, mister? Ain't he come up yet? Oh! my! I wouldn't have
missed this for a cookey. What's he doing, mister, please? He's our
chum, Andy is, and we're proud of him."
"Yes, there he is alongside the boat now," said Longley, using the
binoculars again, "I can see him swimming with one hand. He seems to
have injured the other--no, no, it must be he's got the child gripped in
his right arm, for I seem to see a yellow head close to his. There, the
hydroplane drops in the water near by. The boy lifts up his burden and
places it in the boat. Now he's climbing in himself, as if he means to
revive the child. Marsh, he's done it! And if that was Andy Bird I take
off my hat to him."
Whereupon both Elephant and Larry started in to shout and cheer at the
top of their voices; as though they might have a personal interest in the
gallant rescue which had just come under their observation.
CHAPTER III
THE MEN IN THE TOURING CAR

When Andy Bird, wet through to the skin, arrived at the fisherman's
dock a little later, he found quite a crowd awaiting his coming.
The small urchin, Tommy, had apparently not suffered seriously from
his immersion in the waters of Sunrise Lake. Perhaps he was to