water. At the second when
all hope appeared to be gone they would find themselves being slowly
lifted up and up and up until once more they topped another
mountainous swell.

Fortunately for the two girls, the tops of the swells were in most
instances solid, dark water. The strong wind having gone down, the
crests generally showed no white, broken foam. When such an one was
met with it meant a rough few moments for the Meadow-Brook Girls and a
severe shaking up. Tommy had been in the surf on many occasions, when
at the sea shore with her parents, and understood it fairly well.
Harriet had never been in the salt water, but was guided wholly by the
instincts of the swimmer, of one who loved the water, and for whom it
seemed almost her natural element, and in the excitement of the hour
she at times forgot the peril of their position. So far as she knew
they might already be far out to sea, with a mile or more of salt
water underneath them.

In the meantime there was intense excitement in the camp. Miss Elting
had been a witness to the sudden disappearance of Grace and Harriet.
She had seen both girls enveloped in the cloud of spray and dark
water. Jane McCarthy had gone bounding toward the beach, followed by
their guardian and several of the Camp Girls, who, though not having
seen Harriet and Grace disappear, surmised something of the truth.

Reaching the edge of the bluff, they saw at once what had occurred. A
large portion of the sandy bluff had sloughed off and slipped into the
sea, having been loosened and undermined by the persistent smash of
the waves against the bluff. Jane started to leap down, but Miss
Elting caught her in time.

"No, no, no," protested the guardian; "you must not!"

"But they are down there drowning!" screamed Crazy Jane.

"There is nothing we can do to save them. They aren't there. You can
see they are not."

"But if not, where are they?" cried Jane.

"My dears, if they went in there they undoubtedly have been carried
out. The undertow is very strong in a storm such as this," said Mrs.
Livingston sadly. She had hurried down to the beach upon seeing the
others running in that direction, to ascertain the cause.

"Some one get a boat!" screamed Margery.

The Chief Guardian shook her head sadly.

"There is no boat here. Even if there were, we could not launch it
against that sea, nor would it live a moment did we succeed in getting
it launched. We can do no more than trust in God and