lived within sight;
indeed, only two twinkling lights from house windows could they now see
on that side, and both of those were far away.

"Do you suppose we could slip overboard without swamping the boat, and
so lighten it?" demanded Nancy.

"What good would that do?"

"Then it wouldn't sink and we could cling to the gunwales. It would keep
us afloat."

"Oh, that plug's come out!" gasped Jennie.

It had. Nancy stooped and forced the cloth into the hole again; but her
motion rocked the boat dangerously. A ripple came along and lapped right
in, and the girls were almost waist deep!

"Oh, dear me!" wailed Jennie. "We might just as well be drowned as be
like this. We _are_ drowned from our waists down."

"Nev--er--say--die!" gasped Nancy, struggling with the jacket-sleeve to
make it stay in the hole.

"We've got to get out!" cried Jennie. "This is where we get off--even if
it _is_ a wet landing. If we're out of the boat, it will only sink so
that the gunwales are level with the water. Isn't that so?"

"I believe so," admitted Nancy.

"Then out we go," said Jennie, working her way toward the bow.

"What you going to do?"

"Lighten the boat. You slide out over the stern. We've got to do it,
Nance."

"I guess that's so," admitted her chum. "Do be careful, Jennie. And if
the boat _does_ sink, don't lose your head. We can swim."

"Well, I can't swim to shore in all these clothes. I wish I had loosened
my skirts at the start. Oh, dear!"

The daylight had drifted out of the sky and there was no moon. The stars
shone palely and it seemed as though a mist had suddenly been drawn over
the surface of the river.

The lights of the steamboat had long since disappeared around the bend.
There didn't seem to be another pleasure boat on the river this evening.
And yet there must have been a lot of the girls out, somewhere.

Jennie and Nancy got their feet over the ends of the boat and slid
carefully down into the water. Their skirts buoyed them up a bit; but
they knew that once the garments were saturated, they would bear them
down instead.

"Are--are you all--all right, Nance?" gasped Jennie, from the bow, as
the water rose about her. "Oh, oh! Isn't it wet?"

"Cling to the boat, Jen!" begged Nancy, from the stern. "I--I don't
believe it will sink."

And even as she spoke the skiff, lurching first one side and then the
other, sank slowly down into the depths of the river.

Both girls screamed. They came togethe