“Bunny Brown, what are you doing?” she whispered to him, so as not to awaken Sue.
“I’m holding my eyelids open,” he answered in a low voice.
“Holding your eyelids open!” gasped his mother. “What for?”
“So I won’t go to sleep,” he answered. “I want to stay awake until daddy comes back, but my eyes—my eyes—now—keep going shut, so I’m holding them open.”
“Oh, you funny boy!” softly laughed his mother.
But soon, even with Bunny holding his eyelids up by means of his fingers, the little fellow fell asleep, as had his sister. Then Mrs. Brown sat there thinking over the many things that had happened since they had left their home in Bellemere.
“And I wonder how poor Mr. Pott, in the hospital, is getting along,” thought Mrs. Brown. “I hope he has some word of his lost son and the missing treasure.”
A little later her husband returned to the stateroom. Mrs. Brown held up a warning finger to let him know the children were asleep, and he made no noise.
“What happened?” she whispered to him.
“We went aground in the fog,” he answered. “But the ship isn’t damaged and Captain Ward thinks we shall get off in the morning. He isn’t going to try it to-night, as he can’t see what’s around him.”