Part 24 (1/2)

She had just time to take a tighter hold of Bunny and turn, but the new boy did not seem to know much about bathing or waves. He stood waiting, and, an instant later he was knocked down and his head went under water.

CHAPTER XVIII

HELD FAST

The first that Mrs. Brown knew of what was happening was when a woman near her screamed. Then this woman hurried down the sands to the edge of the water in which Bunny, Sue, and a number of other children were bathing.

Mrs. Brown had been talking to several women of the summer bungalow colony near Bark Lodge, and one of these ladies had just remarked that a new family had come to the hotel.

”It is Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Slater,” Mrs. Brown was told. ”They have a little boy named Harry, about as old as your Bunny.”

And just as Mrs. Blaney, who was telling this to Mrs. Brown, finished, Mrs. Brown heard a woman scream and saw her run down to the water.

”That's Mrs. Slater now,” said Mrs. Blaney. ”I wonder what the matter is.”

”Her little boy was just knocked down by a big wave,” said another woman who had been sitting on the sand talking to Mrs. Brown. ”Perhaps we had better go and help her.”

It was Harry Slater, the new boy to whom Bunny had been talking, who had been knocked down and rolled over by the big wave. His mother, sitting on the beach, had seen what had taken place. Then she had screamed and had hurried down the sands.

But, as it happened, Bunny Brown was nearer at hand to give the needed help. He and Sue were used to the big waves, which came in Christmas Tree Cove only when one of the large excursion steamers stopped at a nearby dock. The propeller of the steamer sent the waves rus.h.i.+ng insh.o.r.e almost like the surf of the larger ocean outside.

”Oh, the wave knocked him down!” cried Sue, who had seen the ma.s.s of water coming, and had held to Bunny while they turned a little and jumped so they did not fall. ”Look, Bunny, he's down in the water!”

”I know!” exclaimed Bunny! ”I see him! I'll get him up!”

Bunny and Sue had lived so long in Bellemere near the water that, young as they were, they knew the thing to do when people fall into or down in the water is to get them out as soon as possible, in order that they may not be smothered.

So, as soon as he had made sure that Sue was all right, Bunny leaned down, and, catching hold of Harry Slater, the new boy, who was floundering around under water, lifted him up. It was easy for Bunny to do this, as a body in water weighs less than outside.

Thus Bunny easily lifted Harry up and held him on his feet, while the new boy choked and gasped to get his breath. By this time his mother was at the edge of the water, where the waves broke on the sand, and she was just going to go in, all dressed as she was, for she did not wear a bathing suit.

”Harry,” cried Mrs. Slater, ”mother is coming!”

”There isn't any need, lady!” said Duncan Porter, the life-saver who was always on duty during the bathing hour. ”I'll bring him in to you. But, anyhow, Bunny has him safe.”

The guard, who had been on another part of the beach, had run up when he heard Mrs. Slater scream, and now he waded out and brought Harry to sh.o.r.e in his arms. The new boy was more frightened than hurt, and was soon all right again, though he coughed a little because of the water he had swallowed.

”Oh, Harry Slater, you were nearly drowned!” cried some of the other children.

”Oh, he wasn't in much danger,” said the life guard. ”I'd have had him out in another second or two. But, as it was, Bunny Brown got him out of the water all right.”

”How can I thank you?” said Harry's mother, as she gave Bunny a hug, all wet as he was, for he and Sue, with many other children, had followed the life-saver to sh.o.r.e when he carried the choking, gasping new boy.

”Oh, it wasn't anything much!” protested Bunny, who did not like a fuss being made over him. ”The big wave just knocked him down, and I picked him up.”

”He's a brave and clever little boy!” said several ladies on the beach, and if Bunny had not been so tanned and sunburned he might have blushed.

”It was a big wave knocked him down,” said Sue. ”One of the steamer waves. You have to look out for 'em! I saw him go down and I yelled.”