ds all flew away, leaving their
luckless companion to his fate.

The bird, when he found himself deserted by his friends, made more
frantic efforts than ever to escape; and the beating of his wings upon
the water caused the whole party to move slowly along.

"What are we to do now?" whispered Marjorie; "we can't drag him
underneath, or he'd be drowned, you know."

"Oh, let's hang on," cried Dick, "perhaps he will drag us along till we
come to land somewhere. I say," he shouted, "are you the Dodo, or not?"

His voice could evidently not be heard above the water, for there was no
reply from the bird, which continued making a terrific outcry, using
every effort to get away from them.

Presently, just as Dick had suggested, some rocks came in sight, and the
children could see that they were being gradually dragged tards the
shore.

In a few minutes they had the satisfaction of being able to scramble out
of the water, when they discovered, to their great dismay, that their
captive was not the Dodo at all, but a great wild goose, who, when they
hurriedly released his legs waddled awkwardly ashore, and gazed at them
with reproachful eyes.

A little way inland the Dodo himself could be seen standing, surrounded
by an excited group of birds, who, when they caught sight of the
children emerging from the water, immediately took to flight, screaming
in horrified tones--

"The Sharks! The Sharks! Here come the Sharks!"

The Dodo tried to follow their example, and for a moment it looked as
though the children would lose him after all; but it soon became evident
that the creature could not fly, for after wildly beating the air for
awhile, with his little apologies for wings, the miserable bird fell
squalling into the water, while his companions disappeared in the
distance.

"Help! Help!" he screamed, as he struggled with the waves. "Don't you
see that I'm drowning? Oh! Oh! Help! Help!"

"Swim ashore," cried the children.

"I can't," was the reply, in a faint voice. "I can't swim. Oh!--oh!
there go my poor, dear gloves." This last as his wings, which he had
been holding up out of the water, sank exhausted to his side.

Dick plunged in, and soon brought the bird to shore, where he stood for
a moment or two, ruefully regarding his white kid gloves, which the salt
water had completely ruined, while the bow of his necktie had slipped
around to the back of his neck.

"A pretty figure I shall cut now at the Ichthyosaurus' A