It had. Nancy stooped and forced the cloth into the hole again; but her motion rocked the boat dangerously. A ripple came along and lapped right in, and the girls were almost waist deep!
“Oh, dear me!” wailed Jennie. “We might just as well be drowned as be like this. We are drowned from our waists down.”
“Nev—er—say—die!” gasped Nancy, struggling with the jacket-sleeve to make it stay in the hole.
“We’ve got to get out!” cried Jennie. “This is where we get off—even if it is a wet landing. If we’re out of the boat, it will only sink so that the gunwales are level with the water. Isn’t that so?”
“I believe so,” admitted Nancy.
“Then out we go,” said Jennie, working her way toward the bow.
“What you going to do?”
“Lighten the boat. You slide out over the stern. We’ve got to do it, Nance.”
“I guess that’s so,” admitted her chum. “Do be careful, Jennie. And if the boat does sink, don’t lose your head. We can swim.”
“Well, I can’t swim to shore in all these clothes. I wish I had loosened my skirts at the start. Oh, dear!”