He rowed close to a short pile that was near the sh.o.r.e and in very shallow water. There was a huge iron ring attached to the pile, used for mooring small boats.
Donald, who had been watching the sh.o.r.e very closely, now, to hide his interest, bent all his energy in fastening the chain of the boat to the ring.
"There!" he said, "that"s fast, an" you girls are safe if you sit still till I come back."
He sprang from the boat, and waded through the shallow water, then ran up on the beach, shouting:
"Jock! Jock! Wait a minute!"
"Donald! Don"t stay long!" cried Rose, and Polly echoed her words, but Donald either did not, or would not hear!
They watched the two boys as they stood for a moment talking, then ran down the beach.
"I don"t think he was very nice to go off and leave us here while he does errands," said Polly.
"He wasn"t nice at all," said Rose, "and I"ll tell Uncle John, if he gets here first."
"Is this chain VERY long?" Polly asked a moment later.
"I don"t know," said Rose, looking over the side of the boat and down into the water.
"I don"t see it," she said a moment later, "why did you ask that, Polly?"
"Oh, I was only wondering how far we could float before the chain would look tight. We"ve gone ever so far, and the boat doesn"t tug at it yet!"
Polly said.
"It will, though!" said Rose.
Still they floated, and for a time they were silent, contented to be out in the sunshine.
Then suddenly Rose looked up at Polly, quick terror in her eyes.
"Polly, Princess Polly!" she cried, "is there ANY chain on this boat?"
"Why of course!" said Polly, "didn"t you see Donald fasten it to that big iron ring on the post?"
Rose leaned forward and looked into Polly"s eyes.
"I saw him fasten ONE END of it, Polly, and so did you, but was the OTHER end fastened to this boat?"
"Why, yes, I--oh, Rose, you DON"T think we"re--DRIFTING?" gasped Polly.
"You can"t get up, and turn round," said Rose, "because Uncle John told us always to keep our seats in a boat, but can"t you just twist round enough to see?"
With great care Polly turned, and saw just what she feared--the ring on the boat and NO CHAIN CONNECTED!
With a white little face Polly turned, and with parted lips looked at Rose.
"We ARE drifting--JUST DRIFTING!" she whispered hoa.r.s.ely.
"Drifting!" cried Rose. "Oh, Polly, what SHALL we do?"
"Sit still," whispered Polly, "and wait--just WAIT!"
"What WILL Uncle John do? And where will he think we are?" said Rose.
"Oh, I don"t know!" wailed Polly, "but I"m SURE we ought to do something. Just look how far we are from the sh.o.r.e, and we"re going all the time!"
They looked in despair toward the beach. No one was in sight, and the dancing waves glistened in the sunlight, as if they laughed, feeling no pity for the two frightened children in the boat.
"Do you s"pose we could row?" questioned Polly.
"I don"t know how," said Rose, "but it didn"t look hard when Donald did it."
They reached for the oars, but found that neither was strong enough to lift one, and Rose"s eyes filled with tears when she looked at Polly, while Polly"s brave effort to cheer Rose with a smile failed, because her own lips were quivering.
"Let"s sit down in the bottom of the boat, it seems safer," said Rose.
They slipped from their seats, and each clung to the other.
"If only Uncle John knew!" wailed Rose.
"If only he knew!" echoed Polly, with a sob.
Still the little boat rocked lightly on the waves, and now they no longer tried to hide their fear, but cried, because they could not help it.
Out on a high bluff a tall, square-shouldered man leveled a powerful gla.s.s and looked out across the waves.
Evidently he saw what he was looking for, and hastily slinging the leather strap that held the gla.s.s over his shoulder, he strode down to the sh.o.r.e.
Completely tired, the two children lay sobbing and clinging to each other, no longer looking toward the sh.o.r.e, because now they were too far out to clearly see it.
A white gull circled near them, and the whirring of its wings made Polly open her eyes.
"A great gull!" she whispered, then, oh, the joy in her cry:
""The Dolphin!" "The Dolphin!""
Rose scrambled to her knees.
"Oh, it is! It is! DEAR Uncle John!" she cried.
It was a quick turn from terror in the little boat to joy and safety in the big yacht, with Uncle John, big, brave Uncle John, to care for them.
"You must tell me all about this," he said, when they were once aboard the yacht, "but not a word until after we"ve had a wee lunch."
The steward brought dainty sandwiches, cakes, fruit and hot chocolate, and the happy little trio enjoyed it heartily, partly because it was a delicious spread, but far more because of their feeling of safety after their terror.
The children had been frightened, but bright, cheery Uncle John had suffered more than he would have admitted when, through his powerful gla.s.s, he had seen the two little occupants of the rowboat crouching close together, rocked at the will of the waves and going steadily out to the open sea.