Bob could just make out, on the end of the dock, the figure of an excited man, waving his hands to him. But what he said could not be heard. Bob was sure the man was Silas.
"What is it—what's happened?" called Frank.
"We've broken loose!" shouted Bob, coming back into the cabin. Even in those few seconds he had been drenched with the rain.
"Broken loose from where?" asked Sammy.
"From the dock. We're adrift!"
"Adrift! Where are we going?" gasped Sammy and Frank together.
"We're being carried out to sea, I guess," answered Bob, and there was fear in his voice, much as he tried to hide it.
Meanwhile the Skip, at the mercy of the wind and tide, was being carried faster and faster out toward the inlet that led to the great ocean.