She would have collapsed, and
fallen in a heap on the bottom boards, had not Ned, who had come
forward from the engine, caught her.
Then Tom, again leaning over the side, pulled in the other girl,
who was clinging to the life ring.
"You're all right," Tom assured her, as she came up, gasping,
choking and crying hysterically. "You're all right!"
"Is--is Minnie saved?" she sobbed.
"Yes, Grace! I'm here," answered the one Ned was supporting.
"Oh, wasn't it terrible!" cried the second girl Tom had saved.
"I thought we would be drowned, even though we can swim."
"Yes, it--it was so--so sudden!" gasped her companion. "What
happened?"
"The wash from that big boat upset you," explained Tom. "That
fellow ought to be ashamed of himself, rushing along the way he
did. Now, can I take you girls anywhere? Your canoe seems to have
drifted off."
"I have it!" someone called. "It's turned over, but I can tow it
to shore."
"And I'll take the girls home," offered a gentleman in a large
rowboat. "My wife will look after them. They live near us," and he
mentioned his own name and the names of the two girls Tom had
saved. The young inventor did not know them, but he introduced
himself and Ned.
"This is the annual moonlight outing of our little boat club,"
explained the man who had offered to look after the girls, "and it
is the first time we ever had an accident.
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