The two girls felt very lost and lonely when the boys went off on the raft. They climbed the cliff quickly so that they might watch the boys till they were out of sight.
They waved until the raft was a tiny speck on the sea. Then they lost sight of it. It was gone.
"I do hope Tom and Andy reach home all right," said Jill, as they made their way down the cliff to the shore again. "It would be awful if they got lost on the sea."
"Don't say things like that!" said Mary. "Let's think of something cheerful. Let's have something to eat."
But neither of them really wanted anything. They kept thinking of the two brave boys on their little raft.
"I do hope nobody combs to the island to-day," said Mary. "I don't feel as if I shall be able to act very well."
Nobody did come that day. The girls were left quite alone. They bathed in the sea and dried themselves in the sun. Then they bathed all over again. There really wasn't much else to do!
They missed the two boys very much, and when night came they even felt a little frightened.
"Cheer up!" said Jill, seeing Mary's long face. "We shall be all right cuddled up in the tent together! The enemy don't know the boys are gone—that's the main thing. I should think the boys are pretty safe by now—there has been a good wind blowing all day and they must have gone a long way already."
The girls lighted their little stove and put it just at the tent-opening when night came. They liked to see the small light it gave. They boiled a kettle of water on it and sat inside the tent, drinking hot cocoa, whilst the stars came out in the sky.