"Don't get excited!" advised Mollie. "We'll be all right," but she watched with eager eyes the progress they were making, and the ever-decreasing size of their floe.
"The boys are going to help him!" cried Mollie. "Now we will move faster."
Will and the others, reaching the side of the lumberman, and seeing his plan, laid hold of the rope with him, and hauled with all their might. Then, indeed, the floe containing the ice boat did move toward shore more quickly. And to such good purpose did the rescuers haul that, in a short time, the cake grounded in shallow water, with one point so near shore that the girls could leap across the intervening water safely.
And it was only just in time, for when Betty, who insisted on being the last to leave the boat, landed, the cake split in half, and the Spider was partly submerged.
"What luck!" cried Will, as he clasped his sister's hand. "Whatever possessed you girls to go out on a day like this?"
"Never mind asking questions now," replied Grace half-hysterically. "We're safe! Better get your boat ashore boys."
"That's good advice," agreed Allen, and with the help of the lumberman the Spider was hauled ashore, not in the least damaged. The girls were beginning to recover their nerves now, though they were a trifle shaky.
"Let's get back to the cabin!" cried Grace. "Oh, I'll never go ice boating again."
"Not when the ice is like it was to-day," commented her brother. "Franklin says he warned you."
"Oh, well, we didn't think we'd go so far," said Mollie. "We must thank that man. Where is he?"