It seemed hours when, suddenly, a movement in the water, not far from them both, was noticed by Bess.
"Oh! what is that?" she called. "Can it be——"
"Oh, it's Walter!" shrieked Belle, clasping her hands.
"It can't be!" answered Ed, at the some moment raising a lantern above his head to see, if possible, what was making the splash in the water.
"It's as big—as—a——," began Belle.
"Horse!" finished Cora. "I saw a head just then."
"Oh, it's a whale!" cried Bess, actually dropping into the bottom of the boat as if to hide from the monster.
"And he may have eaten Walter!" wailed Belle.
"Girls!" commanded Cora. "Do try not to be so foolish. There are no whales in this bay." But all the same her voice was unsteady, and she would have given worlds for a reassuring shout from Walter.
Another splash!