CHAPTER XVI
A BRAVE RESCUE
"Save him, somebody! The fool's fallen overboard!" roared the foreman."I can't let go this rope!"
Tad had not seen the cook take his plunge, so, for the moment, he didnot realize what had occurred.
"Who's overboard," young Butler demanded sharply.
"The cook," answered Stallings excitedly. "Can't any of you slow pokesget busy and fish him out?"
"Pong!" cried Tad as the head of the Chinaman appeared on the surface.
Without an instant's hesitation the lad leaped into his saddle.
"Yip!" he shouted to the pony, accentuating his command by a sharp blowwith the quirt.
The pony leaped forward.
"Here, he's not up there; he's in the river I tell you!" shouted theforeman.
Tad had driven his mount straight up the bank behind them. He paid noattention to the warning of the foreman, having already mapped out hisown plan of action.
Reaching the top of the sloping bank, Tad pulled his pony to the rightand dashed along the bluff, headed down the river.
"Watch your lines or you'll have the wagon overboard, too," he calledback. "I'll get Pong out."
Big-foot Sanders scratched his head reflectively.
"Ain't the Pinto the original whirlwind, though?" he grinned. "I neverdid see the like of him, now. He'll get that heathen out while we arestanding here trying to make up our minds what to do."
"Yes, but I'm afraid the Chinaman will drown before Tad gets to him,"said the foreman, with a shake of his head. "Here, don't let go of thisrope while you are staring at the kid. I can't hold it alone."
Tad drove his pony to its utmost speed until he had reached a point somelittle distance below where the head of the Chinaman had last been seen.
All at once the lad turned sharply, the supple-limbed pony taking thebank in a cat-like leap, landing in the water with a splash.
Tad kept his saddle until the pony's feet no longer touched the bottom.Then he dropped off, clinging to the mane with one hand. The cook wasnowhere to be seen, but Tad was sure he had headed him off and waswatching the water above him with keen eyes.
"There he is below you!" shouted a voice on shore. "Look out, you'lllose him."
Tad turned at the same instant, giving the pony's neck a sharp slap toindicate that he wanted the animal to turn with him.
The lad saw the Chinaman's head above the water. Evidently the latterwas now making a desperate effort to keep it there, for his hands werebeating the water frantically.
"Keep your hands and feet going, and hold your breath!" roared Tad."I'll be----"
Before he could add "there," the lad suddenly discovered that there wassomething wrong with his pony. It was the latter which was now beatingthe water and squealing with fear.
One of the animal's hind hoofs raked Tad's leg, pounding it painfully.Tad released his hold of the mane and grasped the rein.
Throwing up its head, uttering a snort, the pony sank out of sight,carrying its master under. Tad quickly let go the reins and kickedhimself to the surface.
The pony was gone. What had caused its sudden sinking the lad could notimagine. There was no time to speculate--not an instant to lose if hewere to rescue the drowning cook.
Throwing himself forward, headed downstream, Tad struck out with long,overhand strokes for the Chinaman. Going so much faster than thecurrent, the boy rapidly gained on the victim.
Yet, just as he was almost within reach of Pong, the latter threw up hishands and went down.
Tad dived instantly. The swollen stream was so muddy that he could seenothing below the surface. His groping hands grasped nothing except themuddy water. The lad propelled himself to the surface, shaking the waterfrom his eyes.
There before him he saw the long, yellow arms of the Chinaman protrudingabove the surface of the river. This time, Tad was determined that thecook should not escape him. Tad made a long, curving dive not unlikethat of a porpoise.
This time the lad's hands reached the drowning man. The long, yellowarms twined themselves about the boy, and Tad felt himself going down.
With rare presence of mind the boy held his breath, making no effort towrench himself free from the Chinaman's grip. He knew it would be effortwasted, and, besides, he preferred to save his strength until theyreached the surface once more.
Half a dozen cowpunchers had plunged their ponies into the river, andwere swimming toward the spot where Tad had been seen to go down, whilethe foreman was shouting frantic orders at them. The wagon had beenferried to the other side, and Stallings had run to his pony, on whichhe was now dashing madly along the river bank.
"Look out that you don't run them down!" he roared. "Keep your witsabout you!"
"They're both down, already!" shouted a cowboy in reply.
"We'll lose the whole outfit at this rate," growled another. Yet, not aman was there, unless perhaps it may have been Lumpy Bates, who wouldnot have risked his own life freely to save that of the plucky lad.
After going down a few feet, Tad began treading water with all hismight. This checked their downward course and in a second or so he hadthe satisfaction of realizing that they were slowly rising. The current,however, was forcing them up at an angle.
This, to a certain extent, worked to the boy's advantage, for theChinaman was underneath him, thus giving Tad more freedom than had theirpositions been reversed.
"There they are!" cried Big-foot Sanders as the Chinaman and hiswould-be rescuer popped into sight.
"Go after them!" commanded Stallings.
Urging their ponies forward by beating them with their quirts, thecowboys made desperate efforts to reach the two.
Tad managed to free one arm which he held above his head.
"The rope! He wants the rope! Rope him, you idiots!" bellowed theforeman.
Big-foot made a cast. However, from his position in the water, he couldnot make an accurate throw and the rope fell short.
Tad saw it. He was struggling furiously now, ducking and parrying thesweep of that long, yellow arm, with which Pong sought to grasp him.
A quick eddy caught the pair and swept them out into the center of thestream, around a bend where they were caught by the full force of thecurrent. This left their pursuers yards and yards to the rear.
Tad saw that they would both drown, if he did not resort to desperatemeasures. Drawing back his arm, the lad drove a blow straight at Pong'shead, but a swirl of the current destroyed the boy's aim and his fistbarely grazed the cheek of the Chinaman.
Quick as a flash, Tad Butler launched another blow. This time theChinaman's head was jolted backwards, Tad's fist having landed squarelyon the point of the fellow's jaw.
But Pong was still struggling, and the lad completed his work bydelivering another blow in the same place.
"I hope I haven't hurt him," gasped the boy.
Tad threw himself over on his back, breathing heavily and well-nighexhausted. He kept a firm grip on the cook, however, supporting andkeeping the latter's head above water by resting the Chinaman's neck onhis arm as they floated with the current.
In the meantime, Stallings was dashing along the bank roaring out hisorders to the cowboys, calling them ashore and driving them in furtherdown. Yet, each time it seemed as though the floating pair driftedfarther and farther away.
But Tad Butler was still cool. Now that he was getting his strengthback, he began slowly to kick himself in toward shore, aiding in theprocess by long windmill strokes of his free arm.
He did not make the mistake of heading directly for the shore, butsought to make it by a long tack, moving half with the current and halfagainst it. The lad had made up his mind that the cowboys would neverreach them and that what was to be done must be done by himself.
"Can you make it?" called Stallings.
"Yes. But have some one--on the other side--toss me a rope--as soon aspossible. I don't know--whether Pong--is done for--or not," answered theboy in short breaths.
Stallings plunged his pony into the current and swam for the other side.Reaching there, he galloped at full speed toward the point for which Tadseemed to be aiming.
The foreman rode into the water until it was up to his saddle and wherethe pony was obliged to hold its head high to avoid drowning.
There the foreman waited until the lad had gotten within ropingdistance.
"Turn in a little," directed Stallings. "You'll hit that eddy and landout in the middle, if you don't."
A moment more and the foreman's lariat slipped away from the circle ithad formed above his head.
Tad held an arm aloft, and the loop dropped neatly over it. Stallingspulled it and Tad grasped the rope after the loop had tightened abouthis arm.
"Haul away," he directed.
The foreman turned his pony about and slowly towed cook and boy ashore.
The cowboys, observing that Tad was being hauled in, headed for theshore. Reaching it, they put spurs to their ponies and came down to thescene at a smashing gait.
Leaping off, they sprang into the water, picking up Tad and the Chinamanand staggering ashore with them.
The lad was pale and shivering. They laid him down on the bank. But Tadquickly pulled himself to his feet.
"I must look after Pong," he said.
"You let the heathen alone," growled Big-foot Sanders. "Us tenderfeet'lllook after him. That's what we are, a bunch of rank tenderfeet. You'rethe only seasoned, all around, dyed-in-the-wool, genuwine cowpuncher inthe whole outfit. That's the truth."
Tad smiled as he hurried to where the foreman was working over theunconscious cook.
"Is he dead?" asked the lad, apprehensively.
"Dead? Huh!" grunted Curley Adams. "Heathen Chinese don't die as easy asthat."
After a few minutes the cook went off into a paroxysm of choking andcoughing. Then he opened his eyes.
Chunky Brown was standing near, blinking down wisely into the yellowface of Pong.
"You fell in, didn't you?" he asked solemnly.
"Allee samee," grinned the yellow man, weakly.