A SURPRISE THAT PROVED A SHOCK
It could not have been very long, not more than a few seconds, before
Harriet Burrell's benumbed senses began to perform their natural
functions. Deep down in her inner consciousness was the feeling that,
though the surf was breaking over her, underneath her was something
solid, immovable. In a vague sort of way she wondered at this, but for
the time being was too weary and dulled to reason out the cause of the
phenomenon.
After a time the girl began to feel little pains shooting up her arms,
reaching to her shoulders and down along her spine. Again was her
wonderment aroused. Little by little her heavy eyelids struggled open.
But her eyes saw only black darkness and water. Harriet, by a supreme
force of will, now began to reason the cause.
"I am still in the water, but my hands and feet are on something
solid. What does it mean?" she thought.
Turning her head slightly, she saw that which increased her
wonderment. Tommy Thompson was sitting beside her, the little girl's
head leaning against Harriet. It struck Harriet as peculiar that
Tommy was able to sit on the water with nearly half her body out of
the water. Harriet then discovered that she was crouching on all
fours. It was a peculiar position for her, too. She wondered, if able
to maintain that position, why she might not stand up just as well.
"I can do it!" she screamed. "I can stand on the--" She paused. Tommy
had toppled over and lay on her side, partly covered with water.
"Land!" breathed Harriet. "We are on land, but there is water all
about us. I don't understand."
Pondering over this for a moment, Harriet stooped and lifted Grace to
a sitting posture. Her blood had begun to circulate and a warm glow
was suffusing her entire body.
"Tommy, wake up! Wake up! It's land. We are on solid ground. Don't you
understand?"
"Breakfatht for fithh," muttered Tommy. Harriet shook her as
vigorously as she could. It required no little effort to get Grace
wide enough awake to understand what Harriet was saying, but after a
short time Tommy seemed to understand, understanding that finally came
to her with a shock almost equal to that that Harriet had felt.
"We--we are on thhore?" she questioned.
"Yes, yes. Let's get out of the water. Come, dear, I will support
you." This she did, though Harriet staggered and was barely able to
support herself. She slipped a cold arm about Grace's waist. "Make
your feet go." The two girls stumbled forward, Tommy now having an arm
about Harriet's waist, then with a scream from Tommy they stepped off
into deep water and went in all over.
"Thave me, oh, thave me!" moaned Tommy as they came up.
But the plunge had done them good. It had shaken both girls wide awake
and cleared their clouded minds. They once more had been awakened to a
realization of their position.
"It wathn't land at all! Let me go, let me die," insisted Tommy,
struggling to free herself from Harriet's grasp.
"It was a sand bar," explained Harriet. "Please behave yourself,
Tommy. You must _do_ something. It is all I can do to take care of
myself. Now, please, help me by helping yourself and we shall be on
dry land in a few moments."
Grace made several awkward attempts to swim, then gave it up.
"I can't do it, Harriet. What ith the uthe of trying to thwim any
more?"
"Don't you understand? We were on a sand bar. It was that that saved
our lives after we were overcome. We should have drowned had it not
been for the bar."
"Yeth, but we are in deep water again," wailed Tommy.
"Think, think! Don't be so stupid. We must be near the shore. I don't
believe there would be a shallow place like that one far out from
land."
"Do you think tho?" Tommy's voice was weaker than before.
"I am sure of it. Swim. That's a good girl."
"I--I can't."
"Then I will swim for you."
Once more Harriet Burrell placed a hand under Grace and began swimming
with her. The surf was behind them and was rapidly carrying them with
it toward either the shore or the sea, Harriet neither knew nor
thought which. Had she not been still half dazed she might have
smelled the vegetation on shore, not so very far from them, but of
this she took no heed. She swam, summoning all her strength to the
task, knowing that she would not be able to keep up much longer. Then
all at once her hands touched bottom. A moment more and she lay full
length upon the wet, sandy bottom with the waves breaking over her.
Harriet groped with her hands and found that the water at arm's
length, ahead was but a few inches deep. She sprang up with, a weak
cry.
"Tommy, Tommy! We've made it."
"Fithh," muttered Grace.
Harriet grasped her by the arms and began backing toward shore,
dragging her companion with her.
The ground grew more and more solid as she backed. There could be no
doubt now. They were rapidly getting to dry land. Here, unlike the
beach fronting the camp, the ground sloped gradually up away from the
sea, then extended off among the trees a level stretch for some
distance.
Tommy struggled a little when Harriet raised her to her feet. The
latter did not know which way camp lay from where they had landed, but
she decided that it must be to the right of them. In this surmise
Harriet was correct, but the camp was farther away than she had
thought. She staggered along, half leading, half carrying, her
companion, until, exhausted by her efforts, she sank down, Tommy with
her.
"I can't go another step; I'm tired out," gasped Harriet.
"Ye-t-h," agreed Grace weakly.
The two girls toppled over and stretched out on the wet ground,
clasped in each other's arms. They were almost instantly asleep. Tired
nature could endure no more, and there they continued to lie and
slumber through the remaining hours of the night.
Break of day still found patrol parties running along the shore,
alternately searching the beach and gazing out to sea. An occasional
boat was sighted far out, but that was all. No signs of the missing
Meadow-Brook Girls had been found. Ever since the dawn, however, Crazy
Jane McCarthy had been taking account of the direction of the wind,
which was blowing across the bay to the right of their camp. She
decided to investigate that part of the coast on her own account,
going far beyond the farthest point that had been reached by any of
the patrols.
Suddenly Crazy Jane uttered a yell that should have been heard at the
camp, but was not. She had discovered the girls lying on the
beach--still locked in each other's arms.
Jane rushed to them, and, grabbing Tommy, began shaking her. Harriet
raised her heavy eyelids, sat up and rubbed her eyes. Tommy tried to
brush Jane aside.
"Fithh for breakfatht," she muttered.
"Oh, Jane, is it really you?" stammered Harriet, trying to keep from
lying back and again going to sleep.
"Oh, my stars, darlin's! And we thought all the time that you were
both drowned. Don't tell me a thing now. I'll go right back and get
some of the girls to help me get you back to camp."
"No, no; we can walk. There is nothing the matter with us except that
we are tired out. Tommy, Tommy, wake up! It is morning and we are safe
and dry. Think of it!"
"I--I don't want to think. I want to go to thleep."
Jane lifted and shook the little lisping girl until Tommy begged for
mercy, declaring that she would rather go to sleep than return to
camp. It required no little effort to get the girl to try to walk.
Harriet herself would have much preferred going back to sleep, but
after a time, with their arms about Tommy, they managed to get her
started, upon which they took up their weary trudge to the camp, more
than a mile away, stumbling along with Tommy, half asleep nearly every
minute of the time.
It was almost an hour later when a great shout arose from the camp as
the girls were discovered slowly approaching. There was a wild rush to
meet them. Every girl in camp, including the guardians, joined in the
rush to welcome the returning Meadow-Brook Girls.