Another long pause, during which they clung more closely to each other, and their hearts beat side by side, and then Charlie said, in a barely articulate whisper—
“Walter!”
“I know what you are going to say, Charlie.”
“The water in the boat is nearly up to my knees.”
“We have shipped a great deal, you know.”
“Yes; and besides that—”
“Yes, it is true; there is a leak. Do you mind my putting you down and trying what I can do to bail the water out?”
“O Walter, don’t put me off your knee—don’t let go of me.”
“Very well, Charlie; it wouldn’t be of much use.”
“Good God!” cried the little boy in a paroxysm of agony, “we are sinking—we are foundering!”