Nobody had, and even matches were at a premium. The boys rowed and paddled on a short distance further and then came to a halt in a bunch.
"I must confess I am more or less turned around already," said the doctor's son. "Is our shore over there?" and he pointed with his hand.
"I think so," answered Giant.
"I think it is yonder," answered Snap, and pointed at right angles to the direction Shep had mentioned.
"And I think it is about between the two," finished Whopper.
"Let us take the course Whopper thinks is right," said Snap. "We can't be so very far wrong anyway."
Anxious to get back to camp and get some rest, they pulled with vigor. They kept this up for fully ten minutes and then the forward boat slid up on a bar of sand, followed quickly by the second boat and the canoe.
"Here, this won't do!" cried Shep.
"Are we near shore?" questioned Whopper. "I can't see any land."
Neither could the others, and all were more or less worried. They had struck the sand bar with such force that they had been carried well up on it when they tried to shove the boats off they, found the task too much for them. The canoe, however, came away with little difficulty.