Larry had heard her, and he now came forward and lifted Jess gently. He put her on the narrow little seat that went around three sides of the boat and shook her awake slowly. Fred did the same for Margy, and when they understood that Polly was cramped and would have to get up, both were remorseful.
"I'm all right," Polly assured them, trying to get to her feet. "There's nothing the matter with me—oh!"
She pitched forward and would have fallen, if Fred and Artie had not braced her.
"I feel as though I was walking on stilts," poor Polly cried. "What do you suppose is the matter with me?"
"Rub her arms!" directed Larry. "She's about stopped the circulation in her arms and legs, sitting so long like that. It may hurt a little at first, Polly, but you'll be all right in a minute."
Polly was really a little frightened when she found that she could not raise her arms, but Artie rubbed one and Fred the other, while Margy and Jess rubbed her legs and ankles, and presently they began to feel better.
"I don't wonder you cried when your foot went to sleep, Jess," said Polly, managing a smile. "It's worse when you go to sleep all over."
At Larry's suggestion, Fred dropped down on the blanket for an hour's sleep, and though he was sure that he couldn't "do a wink," in less than a second he was fast asleep. The sound of the boat grating on something woke him.
"Is the engine going?" he asked, sitting up with a jerk.
"No such luck," said Larry grimly, pulling out his old-fashioned silver watch and looking at it in the glow of the green light.