CHAPTER VIII
A NEVER-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN NIGHT
"Be brave! Remember that you are a Meadow-Brook Girl, Tommy,"encouraged Harriet. "We are swimmers. We can't drown unless we getinto a panic. There is a boat somewhere hereabouts. I saw one sailinto the cove, or the bay, whichever it is, before I went to sleepthis evening. The men surely will be coming out in the morning; then,if we are too far from shore to get in, we ought to be able to attracttheir attention. They will pick us up."
"Do--do you think we are far from thhore?"
"I fear so. Still, I can't be certain about that. I am dreadfullyconfused and don't know one direction from another. I wish the moonwould come up. That would give us our points of compass. Perhaps theclouds may blow away after a little. We shall at least be able to seemore clearly after that."
"Oh, I'm tho cold! I'm freething, Har-r-r-i-e-t."
"I will fix that. Come, swim with me. We will ride the waves," criedHarriet. The swells were long and high. Now they would ride to thetop of one, then go slipping down the other side on a plane of almostoily smoothness. At such times Tommy would cry out. Even Harriet'sheart would sink as she glanced up at the towering mountains of wateron either side of them. It seemed as if nothing could save them frombeing engulfed, buried under tons of dark water. At the second whenall hope appeared to be gone they would find themselves being slowlylifted up and up and up until once more they topped anothermountainous swell.
Fortunately for the two girls, the tops of the swells were in mostinstances solid, dark water. The strong wind having gone down, thecrests generally showed no white, broken foam. When such an one wasmet with it meant a rough few moments for the Meadow-Brook Girls and asevere shaking up. Tommy had been in the surf on many occasions, whenat the sea shore with her parents, and understood it fairly well.Harriet had never been in the salt water, but was guided wholly by theinstincts of the swimmer, of one who loved the water, and for whom itseemed almost her natural element, and in the excitement of the hourshe at times forgot the peril of their position. So far as she knewthey might already be far out to sea, with a mile or more of saltwater underneath them.
In the meantime there was intense excitement in the camp. Miss Eltinghad been a witness to the sudden disappearance of Grace and Harriet.She had seen both girls enveloped in the cloud of spray and darkwater. Jane McCarthy had gone bounding toward the beach, followed bytheir guardian and several of the Camp Girls, who, though not havingseen Harriet and Grace disappear, surmised something of the truth.
Reaching the edge of the bluff, they saw at once what had occurred. Alarge portion of the sandy bluff had sloughed off and slipped into thesea, having been loosened and undermined by the persistent smash ofthe waves against the bluff. Jane started to leap down, but MissElting caught her in time.
"No, no, no," protested the guardian; "you must not!"
"But they are down there drowning!" screamed Crazy Jane.
"There is nothing we can do to save them. They aren't there. You cansee they are not."
"But if not, where are they?" cried Jane.
"My dears, if they went in there they undoubtedly have been carriedout. The undertow is very strong in a storm such as this," said Mrs.Livingston sadly. She had hurried down to the beach upon seeing theothers running in that direction, to ascertain the cause.
"Some one get a boat!" screamed Margery.
The Chief Guardian shook her head sadly.
"There is no boat here. Even if there were, we could not launch itagainst that sea, nor would it live a moment did we succeed in gettingit launched. We can do no more than trust in God and wait. You see thewind is blowing on shore and--"
"No, it is blowing off toward the cove. The wind has shifted,"answered Jane McCarthy. "But that doesn't help us a bit."
"Gather wood and build a fire," commanded Mrs. Livingston.
The Camp Girls hurriedly set about gathering fuel for a fire, buthaving brought wood, the fuel refused to burn. The rain had thoroughlysoaked everything. The merest flicker of flame was all they were ableto get. They tried again and again, but with no better results,finally giving up the attempt altogether.
"I am afraid we shall have to let it go," decided the Chief Guardian."A light would help so much, and, if the two girls are alive, wouldserve as a guide for them."
Jane interrupted by uttering a shrill cry. She listened, but there wasno response. She cried out again and again, then finally gave up theeffort.
"I'm afraid they are gone," she moaned.
"Unless they were hurt when the wave struck them I do not believe theyare lost," said Miss Elting, with a calmness and hopefulness that shereally did not feel, though she dared not permit herself to admit thatHarriet and Grace really had been lost. "Both are excellent swimmers,and Harriet never would give up so long as there was a breath of lifeleft in her body."
"But can't we do something?" pleaded Margery.
The Chief Guardian shook her head sadly.
"I fear we can not. You have but to look out there to know that anyefforts on our part would be futile."
Miss Elting suddenly cried out.
"Girls, what can we be thinking of? We must patrol the beach. The seais going down a little. Divide up into pairs; keep as close to theshore as possible without being caught by a wave; then search everyfoot of the beach all along. I will go up the beach. Hazel, you comewith me. Mrs. Livingston, will you have the other girls assist us?"
The Chief Guardian gave the orders promptly. Fifty girls began runningalong the shore. Mrs. Livingston quickly called them back, dividingthe party into groups of two. She was very business-like and calm,which, in a measure, served to calm the girls themselves.
"Look carefully," she cautioned. "The missing girls may have beenwashed ashore; they may be found nearly drowned, and it may not be toolate to revive them. Make all haste!"
There was no delay. The Camp Girls took up their work systematically.A thorough search was made of the beach in both directions, thepatrols eventually returning to the Chief Guardian to report that theyhad found no trace of the missing girls.
"Keep moving. They may drift in," commanded Mrs. Livingston.
The search was again taken up, pairs of girls going over the groundthoroughly, investigating every shadow, every sticky mass of sea weedthat caught their anxious glances, but not a sign of either of the twogirls did they find.
An hour had passed; then Mrs. Livingston called them in. She directedcertain groups to return to camp and begin getting the tents laid out,and to put up such as were in condition to be raised. The ChiefGuardian herself remained on the beach with Miss Elting and theMeadow-Brook Girls. There was little conversation. The women walkedslowly back and forth, scanning the sea, of which they could see butlittle, for the night was still very dark. At first they tried callingout at intervals, ceasing only when their voices had grown hoarse. Tonone of their calls was there any reply. Harriet and Tommy were toofar out, and the noise about them was too great to permit of theirhearing a human voice, even had it been closer at hand.
Meantime the two girls were now swimming quite steadily. Harriet knewthat, were they to remain quiet too long, they would grow stiff andgradually get chilled through. That would mark the end, as she wellunderstood. Then again it was necessary to give Tommy enough to do tokeep her mind from her troubles, which were many that night.
All the time Harriet was straining eyes and ears to locate the land.She had not the remotest idea in which direction it lay, and dared notswim straight ahead in any direction for fear of going farther away.The wind died out and rose again. Had it continued to freshen from thestart, she would have permitted herself to drift with it, but Harrietfeared that the wind had veered, and that it was now blowing out tosea, what little there was of it, so she tried to swim about in acircle in so far as was possible. Tommy, of course, knew nothing ofwhat was in the mind of her companion, nor did Harriet think best toconfide in her.
"I'm getting tired. I can't keep up much longer," wailed Grace.<
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"Rest a moment on your back. I will keep a hand under your shouldersso you won't sink. If only one knew it, it isn't really possible tosink, provided the lungs are kept well filled with air and no waterswallowed."
"I could think like a thtone if I let mythelf go."
"Don't let yourself go. There is every reason why you should not, andnot one why you should."
"Yeth." Tommy turned over on her back. "Did you ever thwallow thaltwater?"
"I never did."
"Then don't. It ith awful. Oh, I'm tho tired and I'm getting thleepy."
Harriet roused herself instantly. She gave Tommy a brisk slap on onecheek. Tommy cried out and began fighting back, with the result thatshe was the one to swallow salt water. Tommy choked, strangled andfloundered, still screaming for Harriet to save her. Instead Harrietlet her companion struggle, keeping close to her, but making no effortto help.
"Thave me!"
It was a choking moan. Uttering it, Tommy disappeared. Harriet lungedfor her and dragged her companion up, and none too soon, for thelittle girl had swallowed so much salt water that she was really halfdrowned. Harriet shook her and pounded her on the back, all the timemanaging to float on the surface of the water, evidencing thatHarriet was something of a swimmer. Yet she was becoming weary and thesense of feeling was leaving her limbs. She realized that it was thechill of the Atlantic and that unless she succeeded in restoring hercirculation she would soon be helpless. Just now, however, all herefforts were devoted to the task of arousing Grace. The little girlbegan to whimper and to struggle anew.
"I am amazed at you, Tommy," gasped Harriet. "You, a swimmer, toswallow part of the ocean!"
"I didn't. The ocean thwallowed me--e."
"You must work. Swim, Tommy!"
"I--I can't. I'm tho tired." Grace made languid efforts to prove thatshe was weary. There could be no doubt of it. She did not have theendurance possessed by her companion, and even Harriet's strength wasleaving her, because of that terrible numbness in her lower limbs, anumbness that was creeping upward little by little.
"I will help you. But you must do something for yourself. Turn over onyour stomach. There. You need not try to fight it, just make swimmingmotions, slowly. Not so fast. Now you have the pace."
"I can't keep it. My limbth will not work. My kneeth are thtiff. Oh,Harriet, I think I'm going to die!"
"Nonsense! Why, you could swim all night, if necessary, and be up intime for six o'clock breakfast just the same."
"Breakfatht. It will be fithh for breakfatht for Tommy Thompthon, Igueth. Fithh, Harriet, fithh," mumbled Grace, then ceased swimming."Fithh!"
"Poor girl, she is about done for!" muttered Harriet Burrell. Sheturned Tommy over on her back and, placing a hand under the littlegirl, began swimming slowly. The added burden was almost more thanHarriet, in her benumbed state, was able to handle. She knew that shecould not support Grace and herself through the rest of that long,dark night. She knew, too, that unless they were rescued, hercompanion would be past help by the end of another hour. It alreadyseemed hours since they had slipped into the sea and rode out on thecrest of a receding wave. Now her movements were becoming slower andslower. She seemed not to possess the power to move her limbs. It wasnot all weariness either; it was that dragging numbness that waspulling her down.
Harriet fought a more desperate battle with herself than she ever hadbeen called upon to fight before. She did not now believe that theywould be rescued, but that did not prevent her keeping up the battleas long as a single vestige of strength remained. It was sheer gritthat kept Harriet Burrell afloat during that long, heart-breaking swimamong the Atlantic rollers on this never-to-be-forgotten night.
But at last the girl ceased swimming. Her limbs simply would not movein obedience to her will; her arms seemed weighed down by sometremendous pressure; her head grew heavy and her senses dulled.
"I believe this is the end," muttered Harriet. One great struggle,then her weary muscles relaxed. For a few moments she floated on herback, turned over with a great effort, then settled lower and lower inthe water, all the time fighting to regain possession of herfaculties, but growing weaker with each effort.
Then Harriet Burrell went down, dragging Tommy with her.
The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea; Or, The Loss of The Lonesome Bar Page 8