Then had come a ray of sunshine, and the four Rovers had ventured forth that afternoon thinking to have a pleasant little outing. But the sunshine had quickly passed, and now they found themselves out in a furious storm and face to face with a situation that was as appalling as it was dangerous.
CHAPTER III
TO THE RESCUE
"Don't leave us! Don't leave us!" shouted the man in the middle of the river, as he saw Jack and the others crawling over the rocky shore up the stream.
"We're not going to leave you," answered the young captain of the Colby Hall cadets. "We are going to try to get to that tree and move it. Keep up your courage."
"Oh, please hurry!" screamed the boy in the stream. "The water is getting higher every minute, and it's flying right into our faces!"
"We'll do what we can," shouted back Randy, and the others added similar words of encouragement.
It was no easy task for the Rovers to make their way over the wet rocks, covered here and there with slippery grass and weeds. More than once one or another went down, and Fred gave his left elbow a bump, while his cousin Andy received a scraping of the shins.
Fortunately, the downpour of rain was abating, so that they had a chance to dash the water from their caps and faces and see better what they were trying to do. They soon reached the last of the rocks jutting out from the shore, and here the four came again to a halt to view the situation.
"There is no help for it – we've got to jump right in and trust to luck to reach the other side," said Jack.
"Let us take hold of hands. Maybe we can brace ourselves better," suggested Randy.
This plan was carried out, and a moment later found the four cadets in water up to their knees. So swift was the current they had all they could do to keep their feet, and Andy would have gone down had not his brother and Fred held him up.
It was lucky for the lads that they had chosen a spot where the stream was rather broad and shallow, widening out on the side opposite to the rocky bluff. Nevertheless, at one point they found themselves in water up to their waists, and here they had to struggle with might and main to keep from being swept down to where the man and the boy were held prisoners.
"Say, this is awful!" gasped Fred, when he at last found himself on a safer footing.
"This river is running like a mill-race," was Randy's comment.
When they had reached a spot where the water was less than a foot deep they stopped once more to regain their breath, and then, led by Jack, moved cautiously down the river to the point where was located the drifting tree the man had mentioned.
"Just see if you can't pull it toward the shore," directed the man. "But be careful that you don't get hit when it swings around."
It was now that the young cadets' lessons in bridge building while in camp came into good play. Jack gave orders as to just how the swinging around of the tree might be managed. Then all took hold and pulled with might and main.
"I don't see that it has budged any," gasped Fred, after half a minute of the hardest kind of effort.
"Try it again, boys!" shouted Jack encouragingly. "Now then – all together! One – two – three!"
Again the four sturdy boys exerted all their strength on the tree, and this time they felt the lower end, which had been wedged in between some logs and rocks, give way. Then, as they hauled the tree still farther from the center of the river, it suddenly swung around and, caught by the current, went dashing along on its course.
"Hurrah! There she goes!" shouted Randy, as the tree disappeared in a veil of foam and spray.
"How about it?" shouted Jack to the man and boy. "Can you get loose now?"
Both of the prisoners were exerting their utmost to release themselves and did not answer. But their efforts were in vain, and soon they ceased to struggle.
"It's no use! One of the logs is holding our feet right against the rocks!" gasped out the man. "We don't seem to be able to budge it."
"I'm afraid it is going to break my leg!" screamed the boy. "I can't stand the pressure much longer."
"I'm going out there and see what I can do," said Jack.
"If you go, so will I," returned Randy promptly.
"You can count me in, too," announced Andy and Fred simultaneously.
"Look out that you don't get drowned," went on Jack quickly.
"We'll be as safe as you'll be," returned Fred.
All went up the river a short distance so that they might not be carried past the spot where the man and the boy were located. Then they struck out bravely for the place where the logs were jammed in a heap. Some of the sticks seemed to have been cut for railroad ties, while others looked like fence rails, and there were not less than two dozen of them in a jumble among the jagged rocks.
In a few seconds the cadets found themselves in this jam with the furious current of the river trying to sweep them to one side or the other. But they held fast, and as rapidly as possible loosened one log or rail after another.
"Look out there!" yelled Andy presently, and all heeded his warning. Then several of the logs bobbed up and went flying down the river.
This released the log holding the man and the boy, and the pair came up spluttering.
"Do you think you can swim ashore?" questioned Jack.
"I guess I can make it," answered the man somewhat weakly. "Look after my kid, will you?"
"We sure will!" answered Jack.
With Fred and Andy beside him, the man struck out for the shore, and all were soon carried down the stream and under the rocky bluff. In the meanwhile, Jack and Randy did what they could to aid the boy, and then followed the others.
The swiftly flowing current of the Rick Rack carried the entire party well past the overhanging rocks and then onward to a point where the river widened considerably. Here they managed to get a footing.
"Thank fortune we are out of that!" exclaimed Fred, as he and the others made their way over the sand and rocks and through the bushes to where there was a grassy slope backed up by a number of trees.
"It was a mighty close shave for me and my kid," returned the man. "I thought sure at one time we would be drowned."
"And we would have been if it hadn't been for these fellows coming to save us," added the boy gratefully, and he shot an admiring glance at the four dripping cadets.
"Are you soldier boys?" questioned the man, as the whole party gathered under the shelter of a tree. By this time the rain was nothing more than a fine drizzle.
"Not exactly," answered Jack. "We are cadets attending Colby Hall Military Academy."
"Oh, yes, I've heard about that school," said the man. "They tell me it's a very fine place. Well, all I've got to say is, if all the boys there are as brave as you lads you certainly must have a bang-up crowd," and he smiled broadly. Then he clapped Jack on his shoulder. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you did for us. It was a nervy thing to do – to risk your lives in that river. I shall never forget it. If I were a rich man I'd want to reward you, but I must admit I'm just about as poor as they make 'em."
"We don't want any reward," answered Jack. "I'm glad to be of service to you."
"I guess we're all glad," added Randy, and the others nodded.
Then the young cadets introduced themselves and the man and the boy did the same. The man said his name was John Franklin.
"This is my son Phil," he added. "We don't belong around here – that is, not exactly. You see, I used to own a farm which