re his shooting-clothes would melt into the
background. The sand, however, was soft and the marks had begun to
fill up. Dick did not see why he should follow them, since the man
might have meant to hide until the geese flew over. He gave it up and
pushed on.

The fog crept towards him and did not look as if it would soon roll
away. For all that, he knew the sands and had the noise of the
advancing surf for a guide, which was lucky because speed was
important. A stream ran through the flats near the other shore, and if
Carrie and Jake had started they would have crossed its channel and now
be on the long peninsula of sand that went up the middle of the bay.
When the water rose they could not get across the main gutter, and it
would be hard to reach the land from the end of the peninsula because
it was traversed by a number of little creeks, up which the tide forced
its way.

After a time, Dick stopped and fired the gun. He heard nothing but the
echoes that rolled across the waste and the roar of the sea. The
latter was ominously loud and he began to run. When he had gone some
distance, he tried another shot and disturbed two black-backed gulls
that made a noise like hoarse laughter as they flew overhead. This was
all, and he felt that the gulls were mocking him. He was getting
anxious, and ran on until he was forced to stop for breath, as the fog
began to lift. It rolled back before a little puff of wind, the moon
shone through, and he saw glittering water in front.

Dick began to run the other way. He could do no more, and it looked as
if Jake and Carrie were not on the middle sand. After all, he had not
much ground for imagining they had meant to cross the bay; if there was
no room at the village, they might have walked to a station four or
five miles off and gone to the market town. He must save himself, and
since he hardly thought he could reach Jim's punt before she floated,
he headed up the middle sand. One could cross the gutter farther on,
if one knew the right spot, but it would mean wading some distance and
he must be quick. He got through, and then ran back along the edge of
the channel. He wanted to see if Jim had returned to the punt.

CHAPTER XV

JIM'S ENLIGHTENMENT

Jim waited for some time behind a bowlder by the salt-water pond, and
then shot a duck. The report echoed among the belts of fog and after
the noise died away the roar of the advancing tide was ominously loud,
bu