"Stay," said he, "you could never reach our house safely. The water is
rising too quickly and is too powerful. I will go and rescue our child.
Our helpful neighbors will go with me."

"Yes, willingly," said the two men who had just helped Mrs. Swift.

Armed with long poles which they could thrust into the ground and with
which they could steady themselves, they started forth by the light of a
lantern.

All the people on the hill watched those three men tremblingly. At last
the light died away in the distance. Still they looked, although they
could distinguish nothing. They only heard the dreadful rushing of the
waters, the sighing of the winds, and from time to time the crash of a
falling house.

Mrs. Swift waited with bated breath for the return of her husband and
his faithful assistants. An hour had passed and nothing could be heard
or seen of them. Her fears increased each moment. At last the father
returned, with saddened countenance. One of his assistants said: "It was
impossible to reach your house, my good woman; the water was too deep.
We were in water up to our necks and were almost drowned."

Then the other man spoke up and said: "But don't give up hope, for many
brave men have been helping, all along the way. Before the water got the
upper hand, they went about with lanterns, rousing the people. Perhaps
they have cared for the baby in its cradle."

Many people, laden with household goods, reached the hill from time to
time, but the cradle never appeared and no one knew the whereabouts of