clock, and waked at
sunrise. Then they watched the shore wistfully, and wondered why Bart
and Bruce did not make their appearance. But Bart and Bruce, worn out
by their long watch, did not wake till nearly eight o'clock. Then they
hastily dressed themselves, and after a very hurried breakfast they
bade good by to good Mrs. Watson.

"I shall be dreadfully anxious about that poor boy," said she, sadly.
"Promise me to telegraph as soon as you can about the result."

Bart promised.

Then they hurried down to the beach. The tide was yet a considerable
distance out; but a half dozen stout fellows, whose sympathies were
fully enlisted in their favor, shoved the boat down over the mud, and
launched her.

Then Bart and Bruce took the oars, and soon reached the schooner, where
the boys awaited their arrival in mournful silence.

VI.

Tom adrift.--The receding Shores.--The Paddle.--The Roar of Surf--The
Fog Horn.--The Thunder of the unseen Breakers.--A Horror of great
Darkness.--Adrift in Fog and Night.

When the boat in which Tom was darted down the stream, he at first felt
paralyzed by utter terror; but at length rousing himself, he looked
around. As the boat drifted on, his first impulse was to stop it; and
in order to do this it was necessary to find an oar. The oar which
Captain Corbet had used to scull the boat to the schooner had been
thrown on board of the latter, so that the contents of the boat might
be passed up the more conveniently. Tom knew this, but he thought that
there might be another oar on board. A brief examination sufficed to
show him that there was nothing of the kind. A few loose articles lay
at the bottom; over these was the sail which Captain Corbet had bought
in the ship-yard, and on this was the box of pilot-bread. That was
all. There was not a sign of an oar, or a board, or anything of the
kind.

No sooner had he found out this than he tried to tear off one of the
seats of the boat, in the hope of using this as a paddle. But the
seats were too firmly fixed to be loosened by his hands, and, after a
few frantic but ineffectual efforts, he gave up the attempt.

But he could not so quickly give up his efforts to save himself. There
was the box of biscuit yet. Taking his knife from his pocket, he
succeeded in detaching the cover of the box, and then, using this as a
paddle, he sought with frantic efforts to force the boat nearer to the
shore. But the tide was running very swi