the girls indoors, two at a time. The coffee,
toast and bacon brought fresh courage. She made them change their wet
clothing for that which was warm and dry. They kept the fire burning in
the kitchen stove. After a while their fate did not seem so hopeless.
The girls were frightened, of course. They wished a ship would hurry
along to pick them up. But there was something deliciously thrilling in
the idea that the "Merry Maid" was voyaging alone on a--to
them--unknown sea, and that they were the first mariners who had ever
drifted on such a boat.

All day long the lights were kept burning on the houseboat. There was
nothing else to do, although there was the possibility that their oil
might give out; they had not a large supply on board. But there was no
other way to attract attention. The fog never lifted. If a large boat
should bear down upon them, without seeing their lights, the "Merry
Maid" would go to the bottom of the sea.

The houseboat no longer rocked violently. The water had become
smoother, as is always the case in a fog.

Now and then, during the long day, one of the girls would attempt to go
about some accustomed duty. Lillian and Eleanor made up the berths in
the cabin. Madge and Phyllis rescued the chairs that were being blown
about the deck and lashed them down securely. But after a time the
little company would unconsciously creep together to continue their
silent staring.

In the afternoon Miss Jenny stationed two girls at the forward watch.
She stood in the stern. Madge and Lillian went on the upper deck of
their little cabin for a further range of vision.

Far out on the water Madge saw two great, curling columns of smoke.

"Look, Lillian!" she cried hopelessly, "there goes an ocean liner. We
must be far from shore. How can we signal her?"

Five tired voices took up a shrill call. Two white sheets fluttered
dismally. But the great steamer, on her way to Baltimore, neither heard
the sound nor saw the white signals of distress. It was ten times more
dismal when the friendly smoke had dissolved in the heavy atmosphere!

Another two hours went by. Madge wondered if it could have been only
last night when Flora Harris had so cruelly insulted her. Yet how
little Madge had thought of her trouble to-day! How far away it seemed,
like a sorrow that had come to her years before.

Just before sunset the fog lifted as though by magic. Madge and Phyllis
were together on the cabin deck when a deep rose f