"It sure was," Ross replied, and he described how the terrier had pulled him by the leg and insisted on his coming over to the house in the hollow. "Where's Rex now," queried Anton, "down in our old boat?" "Yes, he's down there, keeping watch, good old scout," answered Ross. "He ought to be satisfied now, he certainly made fuss enough to bring me here. But, look here, Anton, how are we going to get you out? You don't swim." "No," answered his chum mournfully, "I can't swim." "If there was room enough down that stair," said Ross, thoughtfully, "I could take you on my back, but we'd never get through that door, and the window would be even worse." "I'd been thinking of that," Anton answered. "I wondered how Dad would get me when he found out that I wasn't with Uncle Jack and came for me. So I made a long rope out of strips of my sheets." "What's the good of that?" "Well," said the younger boy, "I was wondering if I couldn't get out of the window. My arms are awful strong, you know, Ross." "Yes," the other agreed, "you've plenty of muscle there." "I thought if I could drop that line out of the window, Dad could grab it and hold the boat there. Then I could chuck down Lassie and the pups in a basket--I've got the basket--and slide down the rope of sheets into the boat." Ross thought for a minute. "I don't see why we couldn't do that now," he said. "Suppose we tied a piece of wood to the end of this rope of sheets, so that it would float, the current would curl it around the corner of the house so that I could get hold of it from the boat. If your end of the line was made fast up here, I could hand over hand the boat right under your window, the way you say. Why, I could get you out without any trouble at all! Let's see how it goes." Suiting the action to the word, Ross tied one end of the line of sheets around the hinge of the door, passed it through the window, and, to the other end, tied a spare crutch. Then he leaned out of the window and watched it. The current snatched the crutch down and, as Ross expected, swung it around the corner of the house. "Fine," said the lad. "We can work that all right. I'll have you out of here in two shakes, Anton. Where are the pups?" Anton pointed to the bed, on which a basket was lying. "Aren't they dandies?" he said. Ross took the candle over and picked up one of the pups. Lassie growled in a low voice. "All right, Lassie," said Ross, "you ought to know me." He bent down and patted her. The dog smelt his hand and whacked her tail on the floor in token of recognition, but growled again, nevertheless. "I won't hurt your pup," declared Ross, putting the blind little creature back in the basket. "Nicely marked, Anton," he said, "they look great. But we've got to get busy." He went to the head of the staircase and stared down. "It doesn't look a bit nice," he declared, "I sort of hate to go through there again."