his,
Braintree!"

"Shut up, old man, I say," said Braintree; and he began to take off his
coat and boots.

Bowler did the same.

"We shall have to leave them behind," said he. "It can't be helped.
Are you ready?"

"Yes. But I say, old man, if I get done up and have to let go, don't
wait for me. I'm not much of a swimmer."

Bowler hesitated.

"If I could only be sure of getting _him_ over," said he, pointing to
Tubbs, "I might come back and--"

"Hullo! I say, Bowler, look there!" exclaimed Braintree suddenly,
pointing out to sea. "Wasn't that a light? Blow your whistle, I say."

Bowler obeyed, eagerly gazing in the direction indicated by Braintree.
There was neither answer nor light.

"I'm certain I saw something!" exclaimed Braintree. "Blow again, old
man."

And once more the whistle sent forth a shrill cry seaward, accompanied
by a loud shout from Braintree.

They waited in terrible suspense, but still no answer.

"You must be wrong," said Bowler.

"No, I'm not; blow once more."

And again Bowler obeyed.

This time, sure enough, he fancied he saw a glimmer on the water; but it
might be only the lights on the mainland appearing through the lifting
fog.

For ten minutes they kept up an incessant whistling and shouting, their
hopes growing less and less as the time passed. At length, worn out and
desperate, they had given it up, and were turning once more to prepare
for their swim across. But as they did so the light suddenly
reappeared, the time close to the shore.

Once more, with frantic energy, they raised their signal of distress,
and after a moment's terrible silence had the joy of hearing a faint
shout across the water.

"It's a boat!" cried Braintree. "Whistle again to show them where we
are."

Again and again they whistled, and again and again the responsive shout,
growing ever nearer, came back. Presently they could even distinguish
the sound of oars, and at length the dim outline of a boat loomed across
the entrance of the gulf.

"Where are you?" shouted a voice in the familiar tones of the Raveling
coastguard.

"Here. We can see you. We're on the ledge here, Thomson!"

In a few seconds the boat was alongside, and the three boys were safely
lifted into it.

"Where's the rest of you?" asked Thomson, as coolly as if this sort of
thing was an everyday occurrence with him. "We want seven of you."

"I don't know where they are," said Bowler. "They were coming round