"Reckon we're stuck on a bar," Bob replied.
"Back her," they heard the captain shout, and the propeller began to beat the water, at first slowly and then faster until the engine was doing its best. But the boat did not move.
"What do you know about that?" Jack groaned with disgust.
"It's hard luck just as we thought we were safe," Bob replied quietly.
"Stop her, it's no use," they heard the captain order a moment later.
"Well, we're a little farther from the shore anyhow," Jack said, trying to make his voice sound cheerful.
"We'll be all right if those brown devils let us alone," Captain Ole, who joined them at that moment, told them. "We didn't strike hard enough to hurt the boat any, and it's just low tide. She ought to float in a couple of hours."
"But they'll see us before that," Bob said.
"I know it and that's what's worrying me."
"But we've got plenty of guns," Jack suggested.