In a moment they were out on the ice and had thrown the noosed rope to Tony, clinging for dear life to the plank. He managed to get it about his shoulders, then the four, the two boys on the ice, and the farmer and his son on the shore, began to pull. It was a struggle, but at last their efforts proved successful and Tony, half-dead with the cold and almost paralyzed from the burden of Finch’s lifeless body, was hauled out on firm ice, and then carried to the shore. There the farmer’s wife had arrived with blankets and whisky. They swathed the two half-drowned boys in the blankets; the farmer and his son picked up Finch, whom they thought was dead; Lawrence and Clavering did the same for Deering, and in a few moments they were at the Red Farm. Mrs. Simpson, the farmer’s wife, had already telephoned for a doctor and to the School. Soon Doctor Carter, the school physician, and Doctor Forester himself, arrived on the scene. They gave directions for Tony to be well wrapped in blankets and to be taken at once to the school infirmary, and then set to work in the effort to restore Finch to consciousness. Jimmie drove up to the Infirmary in the farmer’s wagon with Tony, and helped the nurses get him to bed. Then for two hours he waited for the news from the farmhouse. It was after eleven when at last a ring came on the telephone. Jimmie sprang to the receiver. It was Doctor Forester, wanting the head nurse. “Finch is just living,” he said. “We will bring him up later. Tell the nurse I wish to speak to her.” CHAPTER XXII THE CHAPEL On the morrow the school learned the thrilling story of the night. The boys were filled with wonder at the heroism, only to be cast into the depths of anxiety by the news from the Infirmary. Finch, though living, was in a high fever and delirious; doomed, if he ultimately recovered, the physician said, to do so only after a severe illness. Deering was threatened with pneumonia. For nearly a week the issues were not certain. Then at last came the welcome announcement that Tony was out of danger and by another week would be about. Finch’s malady had developed into brain fever. It would be weeks before a crisis was reached; months before recovery could be hoped for. Clavering and Lawrence told the story of the rescue, and left nothing to the imagination in their assertion and account of Tony’s heroism. In the excitement with which the boys listened to the tale and with which they waited for Tony’s reappearance that they might give him a splendid ovation, it was practically forgotten—and indeed few knew—why Finch had started across the Pond that night. The scene in the Rectory study when Mr. Roylston had appeared, was kept a strict secret, owing to the Head Master’s explicit injunctions.