Dick was a good fellow to have along on an occasion of this kind. He always managed to appear cheerful, no matter how seriously the conditions affected him; and besides this, he was so very fertile in resource. Seldom did there arise a sudden emergency but that Dick proved himself capable of suggesting an immediate remedy. In this particular he resembled his father, Bob Armstrong, who, in the old days on the Ohio, used to be looked up to by his younger brother, Sandy, on this account. It was far from cheerful work, however, standing there keeping track of the gradual rise of the river. And it lacked the interest that they might have found in the task had they been at home, and only curious to know what height the water would reach before starting to as speedily decline. Now they had everything at stake; and it meant great peril to them if the little island should be completely submerged. Roger had constructed a contrivance whereby they were able to know just how fast the water rose. This was a stick which he had marked off in inches, and driven into the ground at the edge of the river. By consulting it every little while they were enabled to learn the truth, and it was a continued disappointment. "It looks as if we'd have to climb, sooner or later, Dick," declared Roger, when several hours had passed, and they had three times been forced to retreat before the advance of the flood, removing their "tally stick" on each occasion. "I'm sorry to say it's getting that way," replied the other, shaking his head. "But what about the horses?" demanded Roger. "Well, we've got them here by the tree, and when we have to mount up among the branches we can turn them loose," answered his cousin. "But, Dick, if they have to go, poor things, why make it harder for them?" "I see what you mean, Roger; you think we ought to cut the ropes now, and let them swim for the shore. It does you credit, too; but I hardly believe it would work." "Why wouldn't it?" asked Roger. "For this reason," came the reply. "Horses are affectionate. They get accustomed to people, and these ones know us well, because we've raised them from colts. Now, the chances are that, if we turned them loose at this minute, they would refuse to leave us until the water forced them to swim. Even if you pushed one off the island, I feel sure he would try hard to get back again. So what's the use of turning them loose now?" "Perhaps that's so," admitted Roger. "I was only thinking of giving the poor beasts a better chance to get ashore; because the higher the water rises the harder it will be for them to swim."