."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said the younger lad contritely.

"That's all right," spoke Frank kindly. "You couldn't help it. We had
no sleep last night. Now you get back where you came from," he ordered
the man.

"Aren't you going to help me. I can't walk."

"Then roll in the same as you rolled out."

There was no help for it, and the prisoner, muttering threats against
the lads, was forced to roll over and over on the sand until he was
back in his shelter. Thereafter Andy and Frank both stayed awake until
morning came.

They resumed work on the raft immediately after a hasty breakfast. In
order that their prisoner might be taken to the mainland, or out as far
as they might go before a ship picked them up, they made a sort of
platform, on which he could sit. They also improvised a mast on which
they stretched a piece of canvas they found in the wrecked motor boat.
By noon their rude vessel was completed.

"Now for the launching," exclaimed Frank. "It's nearly high tide, and
if we can work it a little farther down the beach the tide will do the
heaviest work for us. Then we'll go aboard."

"I'm not going on that thing!" snarled their prisoner.

"Yes, you are, if we have to carry you," declared Frank.

"But I may be drowned. You ought to take off these ropes if you're
going to do such a fool-hardy thing as to sail on that raft."

"Not much!" exclaimed Frank determinedly "We've had enough of your
tricks. You'll go on that raft, and you'll stay tied up."

"But if I give you my promise?" whined the man, who seemed to have lost
much of his bravado.

"Nixy on _your_ promises," exclaimed Andy. "Come on, Frank, let's work
the raft down to shore a bit."

It was not without much labor that the boys succeeded in getting the
heavy mass of driftwood down where the tide would float it for them.
The man watched them with a scowling face, occasionally muttering to
himself.

"Better take something to eat along with us; hadn't we?" asked Andy,
when they were waiting for the rising tide.

"Sure," assented Frank. "We may not be picked up until along toward
night. And we'll want water. Lucky we've got some empty cracker tins
to carry it in."

They put the food and water aboard, rigged up their rude sail, and then
carried their prisoner aboard, as it would be awkward to handle him
after the raft was afloat.

Meanwhile they had looked eagerly for any sign of an approaching sail,
but had seen nothing.

"Well