“O, to watch the vessel.”
“Why, what good will that do?”
“She may drift off.”
“Well, why should any of us want to drift off in her?”
“I don’t believe there’s any chance of her drifting off while the tide is rising,” said Bruce; “and if she does drift off, I think we’re all better out of her than in her. So if one of us goes ashore, we’d all better go. It’s not more than three feet deep at the bows, and there’s a sand-spit over there within easy distance.”
“I wonder if there are any quicksands.”
“O, we’ll have to run the risk. There are a couple of boat-hooks there, and two of us can go ahead and try the ground with them. It’s not far to the spit.”
“We’ll have to strip and carry our clothes with us,” said Phil.
“Yes. It would be a great joke if we left our clothes behind, and the vessel drifted off with them.”
The boys now proceeded to undress themselves, and prepare to go ashore. Each one tied up his clothes in a compact bundle. Bruce and Bart took each a boat-hook, which lay in the schooner; Arthur took a handspike, and Tom and Phil found a stout stick each. Thus equipped, they prepared for the journey.