At the same instant—"The rudder-ropes, Sammy!" shouted Martha.
The boy slipped from his place, and, by sense of touch alone, found the cause of the obstruction, and freed the ropes.
The Moth gave a leap forward into the mist.
"I'm afraid!" roared Sabina in no uncertain voice.
"What you afraid of?" came back from the bow. "Don't you know, if there was any danger I'd get out!"
To the children, accustomed as they were to accept their mother's word without question, the statement carried instant reassurance. Sabina stopped roaring, and Francie only screamed when each new wave broke over her, threatening to swamp the boat.
"Hush, Francie!" called Miss Claire at length in a tense, strained voice. "You'll make your mother nervous."
Martha, hearing, answered back, "She don't make me nervous. There's nothing to be nervous about. Let her scream, if it makes her happy."
Francie stopped screaming.
All the while the throbbing of the little engine had been steady, incessant. But now Martha noticed that, at intervals, it missed a beat. She waited to see if it would right itself. A minute, and it had ceased altogether.