"But there was nothing in sight. The snag must have been down under the
surface, and the water is so brown I couldn't see it. My! but that was a
vault! Talk about your high divers, there never was a prettier leap than
that."

"Just my luck, again!" whimpered Will. "What a magnificent picture of the
Jumping Frog that would have made in our scrap-book. Why on earth didn't
you tell me you were going to do it, and I could have been ready to snap
you off?"

"Hear that man, with me down in this ooze, soaked to the skin! Wait till
I find a chance to get at him!" groaned Jerry, shaking his fist upward,
in mock anger, though at the time he was grinning amiably.

"While you are down there, pard, why not take a look, and see if we
scraped the paint off the boat's nose when we banged that log," suggested
practical Frank.

"That's so. Make the best of a bad bargain. Why, no; nothing doing, boys.
This stem is made of solid brass, and could stand many a hard bump. I
think Cousin Archie must have been warned in advance, and had her made
doubly staunch," sang out Jerry.

"Can you see the snag anywhere around?" asked Frank.

"Not here. Perhaps we're down below it now."

"Or it may have been an alligator, fellows. Some of the natives told me
there are a few in this old stream," observed Bluff.