Amador ledger., 1908-06-05

gone now. out Of sight beneath TIE
water Of the Connecticut river.
1t was an3 hour before the sheer
buyer had his flock brought together
again. With the help of the boy and
the man in the small boat the wagon
was got back into the scow, and in
time the three swimming sheep we're
captured and returned Co the flock.
Before the man started the flock up
the road leading from the ferry on the
Vermont side of the river, he turned
to the boy who had been rowing.
"Can you SWIM" he asked.
Eyes, sir" said the boy.
"Aud dive?"
eyes. 80
"Well, it yon can find that bag of
mine I'll divide the money in it with
you. How deep is the river here?"
The boy turned to his father.
"Nlgh on to twenty feet out there,
1 reckon" the ferryman said.
"Humph, said the man, 81 guess
you won't find it. If you do, though,
keep half the money, and send the
rest to he. My address is -----,"
giving the name of town in the wes-
tern part of the state.
'Father,' said the boy. as he helped
pull the scow back across the stream,
the rowboat trailing behind, "can you
tell just about where the boat was
when that wagon tipped up and the
bag went out?''
81 guess So" the man said, and a
few minutes later added, cit was nigh
about here
The boy marked the spot by making
scratch OIL the rope as it slid through
the pulleys.
"You going out to try and find that
bagY" the ferryman asked, as the
scow's square end slid up on the
sandy bank below the house.
eyes," said the boy, "I'll look
out"
IL guess better go with you then.
Go get ready, and I'll wait here.'
The boy scram bled up the path to
the house. In few minutes he came
back, stripped, except for pair Of
light breeches such as divers wear.
Born there by the river, as John
Wright had been, and brought up to
spend half his time, when the river
was not frozen, upon its surface, the
boy swan and dove like an otter.
"Here's the place." he said when
the scratch on the wire rope slid into
sight.
The boat was halted, and the boy
poised himself on the stern with his
hands above his head, as nearly as he
and his father could reckon just over
the spot where the bag had been lost.
'Be careful you don't come up
under the boat" his father said.
eyes, said the boy, Cpl look out.
The slim white body doubled in the
air. There was splash, and he was
out of sight. When he came up, blow
ing, the current had carried him sew
eral feet down stream. lie swan back
to the scow and elm bed on board to
get breath for another dive.
Again and again he went down, the
boat being moved little each time,
and each time he came back empty
handed, except that once he brought
up handful of gravel, to show that
he had reached the river bottom.
''lt's no use,'' he said at last. "The
current Is too strong. Even with all
that weight in it the bag has gone
down stream. DO you suppose it would
stop anywhere? DO you suppose it
would stop In that eddy down there?'
he added, pointing to place near the
bank some little distance down stream
where a piece of driftwood was slowly
circling around and around.
''Maybe. You can't tell anything
about the undercurrents here. Want to
try 1T down there?'
eyes," said the boy.
The scow was pulled ashore, and the
two rowed down stream in the small
boat to the eddy. The boy dove two
or three times. but without success.
The water was not so deep there.
That night after supper John went
out and sat on the bank and looked
at the river and thought. Suddenly
he got up and went to the house, tc
where the ferryman sat on the door
step reading.
Father" he said, "what else die
that drover say was in the bag be
sides the money!"
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