"Don't cut loose! Don't!" cried Russ, whose boat was now up to that containing the two girls and the young actor. "I want to get a film of that. You're not in any real danger; are you?"
"Oh, yes indeed we are!" said Ruth.
"Nonsense! We aren't at all!" protested her sister. "Only I'd like to see what sort of a fish is towing us."
"It isn't a fish at all!" Paul suddenly exclaimed. "It's a manatee—a sea cow!"
"Oh, a sea cow! I want to look at it!" Alice cried.
"You must keep quiet in the boat!" insisted Ruth, who seemed greatly afraid.
"Silly! I won't upset you," was the answer. "But I want to get a glimpse of that creature. There is no danger; is there, Paul?"
"Sea cows are considered gentle, and seldom attack," he replied. "You can see it quite plainly now. It is swimming near the top of the water."
Alice made her way forward, and even Ruth was induced to come and look at the strange creature, while Russ, from his boat, took views of the occurrence.
"The anchor seems to be caught under one of its flippers," said Paul. "That's why it's towing us. Probably the manatee wants to get rid of us as much as you girls want to get rid of it."