in the course of half an hour
or so, during which all were growing more anxious than they cared to
admit.

"Who knows how long 'by-'n-by' may mean? I'd like to get out of here,"
added John.

"I'll tell you what we'll do," said Rob, after they had waited for
perhaps another half-hour. "These men have left us, and now we'll leave
them in turn. The sea is pretty rough, but this is a good boat and we
can run her. We can go back that way, and get to the mouth of the
channel, because I noticed which way the wind was blowing. Town must be
off to the left, and we can keep track of the shore by the echo. I'm for
pulling out right away."

"So am I," assented John. And Jesse, although he looked rather sober at
the sight of the white-topped waves, agreed.

By great good-luck they were able to push the dory out with the receding
crest of a big wave, and the first thing they knew they were pitching up
and down in the white water. By hard pulling they got the boat offshore,
and being there outside the more broken water made fairly good headway,
although they found the boat heavy and hard to pull.

"We can't make it," said Rob, at last. "She's too big for us to pull
against the wind, and that's the way we must go if we go toward town.
I'm afraid we'll have to go ashore again."

"Look, look there!" cried John, suddenly.

They all stopped rowing for a moment and gazed ahead.

A towering ridge of white, foamy waves arose directly in front of them,
higher than their heads had they stood upright in the boat. Swirling
and breaking, it seemed to advance and march down upon them. The surface
of the water was agitated as though some great creature were lashing it
into foam. But soon they saw that this was something worse than any
creature of the deep.

"It's the tide-rips!" cried Rob, anxiously. "The tide-bore is going out
the channel--I've heard them tell of that before. Look out, now! Give
way, and put her into it quartering, or it'll swamp us, sure!"

VI

ADRIFT ON THE OCEAN

A thousand angry, choppy waves pitched alongside the dory, as though
reaching up and trying to come aboard. Time and again the boys thought
all was lost. Instead of passing through the tide-rips, the dory seemed
to be carried on with them as they shifted.

The tide, indeed, had now turned, and with its turn the fog began to
lift. Getting some idea of what now was happening, Rob undertook to make
back toward the shore, where they could hear the