t the
water was yet too shallow on the bar, and that it would be impossible to
pass over. So the sailors were pulling the boat out to sea again.

The ladies were, of course, somewhat alarmed while the boat was thumping
on the bar, and the boiling surges were roaring so frightfully around
them; but they said nothing. They knew that they had nothing to do, and
so they remained quiet.

"We are clear of the bar, now," said Rollo, continuing his report. "I
can see the breakers in a long line before us, but we are clear of them.
Now the sailors are getting out the anchor. I can see a number of the
other boats that are at anchor already."

The anchor, or rather the grapnel which served as an anchor, was now
thrown overboard, and the boat came to, head to the wind. There she
lay, pitching and tossing very uneasily on the sea. The other boats were
seen lying in similar situations at different distances. One was very
near; so near, that instead of anchoring herself, the seamen threw a
rope from her on board the boat where Rollo was, and so held on by her,
instead of anchoring herself. In this situation the whole fleet of boats
remained for nearly an hour. Rollo kept a good lookout all the time,
watching for the first indications of any attempt to move.

At length he heard a fresh command given by the pilot, in language that
he could not understand; but the sailors at the bows immediately began
to take in the anchor.

"They are raising the anchor," said he. "Now we are going to try it
again. There is one boat gone already. She is just coming to the bar.
She is now just in the breakers. I can see the white foam all around
her. She is going in. Now she is over. I can see the whole line of foam
this side of her. Our boat will be there very soon."

In a very few minutes more the boat entered the surf, and soon began to
thump as before at every rise and fall of the seas. But as each
successive wave came up, she was lifted and carried farther over the
bar, and at last came to deep water on the other side.

"It is all over now," said one of the gentlemen, "and, besides, it has
stopped raining." So he rose from his place and shut the umbrella. The
ladies looked around, and to their great joy saw that they were just
entering between the ends of the piers. The passage way was not very
wide, and the piers rose like high walls on each side of it; but the
water was calm and smooth within, and the boats glided along one after
another in