he boat was headed straight for the stranded _Gem_. Help
was coming indeed, but it was of doubtful quality.

CHAPTER XI

INTO THE INTERIOR

"Oh, dear!" cried Grace, as she shrank back against Betty. "Oh, dear."

"Those--those men," breathed Amy, who also seemed to be looking about
for some sort of physical support. "See, Betty!"

They both seemed to depend on the "Little Captain" in this emergency. As
for Mollie, her dark eyes flashed, and she looked at Betty with a nod of
encouragement. Whatever happened, these two would stand together, at any
rate.

"Don't be silly!" exclaimed Betty, stilling the wild beating of her own
heart by the reflection that she must be brave for the sake of others.

"But they are coming right toward us!" gasped Grace, making a move as
though to hide in the cabin.

"Of course they are!" exclaimed Mollie, quickly. "They are going to help
us; aren't they, Betty?"

"I'm sure I hope so," was the low-voiced answer. "One thing, girls,
speak very carefully. Sound carries very distinctly over water, you
know."

"They are coming toward us," added Amy, shrinking closer to Betty. There
was no doubt of that. The eyes of all in the approaching motor boat,
which was a powerful craft, were fixed on the girls in the _Gem_, and it
was a strange sight to see the eyes of the colored men, with so much of
the white showing in contrast to their dark faces, staring fixedly at
our friends. Grace caught herself in a half-hysterical laugh.

"They looked just like those queer china dolls," she explained
afterward.

The white man steering the boat was almost as dark in complexion as were
his companions, but at least he was white--the girls were sure of that.

"I guess they know we have run on a sand bar," Betty explained, in as
calm a voice as she could bring to her need. "They are avoiding it
themselves."

As she spoke the other boat made a wide sweep and then, having gone down
past the _Gem_, it again swept in on a curve, now being headed up
stream.

"Stuck?" called the white steersman, and his voice was not unpleasant,
though a bit domineering, Betty thought.

"But perhaps this is because he is used to giving orders," she
reflected.

"Yes; we are on a sand bar, I'm afraid," she answered, and smiled.

"Look natural!" she commanded to the others a moment later, her voice
not reaching the men in the other craft, she felt sure, for the clutch
of the relief boat had been thrown out and the en