er answered.

And the water kept on rising, for the tide was coming in fast, and it
was going to be high.

Now it happened, just about this time, that Mr. Oscar Burnett, the
lobster fisherman, was coming up the inlet in his motor-boat. He had
been out to sea to lift his lobster-pots and he had been waiting at the
entrance of Clam River for the tide to make the water deep enough for
him to come up. On days when the tide was not so low he could come up
all right, even at "slack water." But this time the channel was not deep
enough for his motor-boat and he had to wait.

And as he puffed up, steering this way and that so as not to run on
sand bars, he heard, faintly, the cries of Margy and Mun Bun.

Having good ears, and knowing the cries must be near him, Mr. Burnett
looked about.

He saw the place where the island was now almost hidden from sight
because of the rising waters, and he saw the two children, Margy and Mun
Bun, standing there, their arms around each other, crying for help, and
also crying real tears. For they were very much frightened.

"Well, I swan to goodness!" exclaimed the lobster fisherman. "There's
those two children again, and this time they're marooned 'stead of being
adrift! Yes, sir! They're marooned!"

I used that word once before and I forgot to tell you what it means, so
I'll do so now. It means, in sailor talk, being left alone on an island
without any way of getting off. Sometimes pirates used to capture ships,
take off the passengers and set them on an island without leaving a
boat. And the poor passengers were marooned. They could no more get off
than could Margy and Mun Bun.

"Marooned! That's what they are!" said Mr. Burnett. "I'll have to go
over and get 'em, just as I got 'em when they drifted down the inlet in
the boat. I never saw such children for getting into trouble!"

Not that Mr. Burnett thought it was too much trouble to go and get Margy
and Mun Bun off the island where they were marooned. Instead, he was
very glad to do it, for he loved children. So he steered his motor-boat
over toward what was left of the island--which was very little now, as
the tide was still rising. Then the lobster fisherman called:

"Don't be afraid, Mun Bun and Margy! I'll soon get you! Don't be afraid.
Just stand still and don't wade off into the deep water."

[Illustration: "DON'T BE AFRAID! I'LL SOON GET YOU!" SAID MR. BURNETT.
_Six Little Bunkers at Cousin Tom's._--_Page 174_]

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