"We shall never get there, sir. She will be full in half a minute."
"Let each man stick to his oar," Frank said, standing up. "We aft will hold on to the boat."
Then he raised his voice in a shout:
"Yachts, ahoy! Send boats; we are sinking!
"Don't be frightened, darling," he said to Bertha. "Keep hold of the gunwale. I can keep you up easily enough until help comes, but it is better to stick to the boat. We must have run against something that has stove her in."
A moment later the water was up to the thwarts, the boat gave a lurch, and then rolled over. Frank threw his arm round Bertha, and as the boat capsized clung to it with his disengaged hand.
"Don't try to get hold of the keel," he said. "It would turn her over again. Just let your hands rest on her, and take hold of the edge of one of the planks.
"That is it, Hawkins. Do you get the other side and just keep her floating as she is. We shall have help in a minute or two.
"Are you all right, George?"
"Yes, I am at her stern. Do you want assistance, sir?"