e able to take
care of myself."

"You're the bravest boy I ever knew," sobbed impulsive Lulu, throwing
her arms around Jack's neck, "and we wouldn't leave you for the whole
world, would we, girls?"

"Of course we wouldn't," said Winifred emphatically. Betty said nothing,
but hugged her brother tight in wordless love and admiration.

"We sha'n't be drowned, any way, I know we sha'n't," said Lulu, her
courage beginning to rise. "There are so many boats on the river that
some one will be sure to see us pretty soon."

"There's a man over there fishing on that dock," cried Winifred
hopefully. "He isn't looking this way, but maybe if we shout very loud
he'll hear us."

The four little voices were accordingly raised, and shout succeeded
shout till the opposite bank sent back the echoes, but the fisherman
never turned his head. Perhaps he was deaf, or possibly he was
accustomed to hear children shouting in that way, merely for the sake of
amusement. Not another human being was in sight.

"He won't see us, oh, he won't look," moaned Winifred, once more
beginning to cry. "See how far away from the shore we are getting. Oh,
we shall be drowned, I know we shall."

Betty and Lulu had also noticed how fast the boat was drifting.

"The tide's going out," whispered Betty, with white lips. "Where does
this river go to, Lulu?"

"Into the ocean, I think," said Lulu, shivering. "It has to go round
Sandy Hook first, though," she added more hopefully, "and somebody will
be sure to see us before we get there."

"Are you very frightened, Jack, dear?" Betty whispered, nestling close
to her little brother.

"N--no, not so very," returned Jack tremulously; "only--only, if
anything does happen think how unhappy mother will be, and--and, I did
hope I should be able to walk just like other people."

This was too much for Betty, and she promptly burst into tears.

"Oh, we must do something, we must," cried Lulu, almost beside herself
with anxiety. "It's all my fault, I know, but I really did think it was
safe. I didn't mean to be naughty, I truly didn't, Winifred."

"I know you didn't," sobbed Winifred, hugging her friend in a burst of
remorse. "I didn't mean what I said, not a single word of it, only I was
so dreadfully frightened."

"Perhaps if we keep on shouting all the time, and waving our
handkerchiefs, some one will notice us," Betty suggested.

This seemed a good idea, and was promptly acted upon, but though they
shouted