Realizing that the young man was actually not aboard the boat, she sank down in abject terror, ready to cry.
"Don't take on so," said Ed. "He is all right. He has gone ashore to get help."
"Gone ashore!" exclaimed both Belle and Bess in a breath.
"Girls, do you imagine we would sit here calmly and try to quiet you if there was anything actually wrong?" asked Cora. "Why don't you give the boys credit, once in a while, for having a little common sense?"
Looking across the water, the movement of the swimming youth could be seen, where the moonlight reflected on the waves.
"Oh, I am so frightened!" exclaimed Belle. "I felt that something would happen!"
"Something always does happen when it is expected," Cora told her, "but let us hope it will be nothing worse than what we already are conscious of. It was splendid of Walter to go, and I am sure he will return safely."
"He's a first-rate swimmer," declared Ed, looking anxiously at the little rippling motion that marked Walter's progress. "He can easily go a mile."
Then quiet settled upon the party. It was, indeed, a gloomy prospect. Stranded—Walter swimming in the bay—and nothing but sky above and water beyond them, just far enough away to be out of the reach of the launch.
All the thoughts of the young folks seemed to follow Walter. Belle hid her face in her hands, Bess clung to Cora, and the two young men watched the progress of the swimmer.