nd lifting the island upon its
swelling bosom.

Down the narrowing river rowed our rescuing crew, and as they rowed the
river narrowed. Soon the lantern light on the island was abreast of
them, some forty or fifty feet distant.

"Hello, over there," called Warde.

"I'm pretty well," called Pee-wee.

"What are we going to do?" asked Townsend. "The tide has beat us to
it. He's safe enough."

"Oh, he couldn't be safer," said Warde. "Our name is mud. All our
rowing for nothing."

"How about the eats over there, Kid?" Warde called.

"They're all right," called Pee-wee, "only the ice cream is starting to
melt. I stuck my finger in through the ice and the cream is kind of
oozing out. Maybe I better eat it, hey? It won't hold out till the
tide comes in. I ate a sandwich and that made me thirsty and I didn't
want to be drinking the lemonade so I ate a piece of ice out of the
freezer and that made me more thirsty so I drank some lemonade anyway
and that made me hungry again and I'm going to eat a sardine sandwich
only I'm afraid that'll make me thirsty and----"

"This is horrible," said Townsend; "it's like an endless chain. Where
will the end be?"

"Do you think it would be all right for me to eat some chicken salad?"
Pee-wee shouted. "The tide won't be high enough to float this island
for two hours."

"Don't!" called Warde, stopping up his ears. "Have a heart."

"Have a what?" called Pee-wee.

"Have a doughnut," shouted Roy.

"All right," called Pee-wee. "There's some dandy cheese here in a kind
of a little jar--_yum--yum_!"

"Don't!" shrieked Warde.

"Doughnut?" called Pee-wee.

"No, I said '_don't_'," called Warde. "You'll have me eating one of
the oarlocks in a minute."

Soon a faint chugging could be heard; it ceased, presumably at the
Skybrow lawn, then started again. Nearer and nearer it came until
presently the racing boat of Dashway Speeder came to a stop alongside
them. Half a dozen girls and as many hungry male guests of the party
were in it clamoring for news.

"This is terrible!" said Minerva. "I never _dreamed_ of such a thing
as this. Why, he's _marooned_!"

"I'm all safe," shouted Pee-wee, "don't you worry."

"_Safe_! I should think he is," said Dora. "If he had the British
navy all around him he couldn't be safer."

"The world is at his feet," said Townsend.

"You mean at his mouth," said Roy.

"I never heard of such a thing in all my born days," said Margaret.