At a given signal, everyone stood ready. All the Brownies, that is except Vevi. She was walking slowly from the lighthouse, not even aware that anything was wrong.
“Now girls, together!”
As Miss Gordon spoke, Mrs. Williams let out the clutch of the car. Again the rear wheels began to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster.
Miss Gordon applied all her strength. The Brownies pushed too, but they were not very strong. Their feet kept slipping in the sand.
“It’s no use, no use at all,” the teacher finally gasped.
She signaled for Mrs. Williams to turn off the motor again. The Brownies could smell rubber. By turning so rapidly in the sand, the rear wheels had generated a great deal of heat.
“Can’t we send for a garageman to tow us out?” suggested Rosemary. “That’s what my mother always does when our car won’t run.”
“Dear, there isn’t time,” Mrs. Williams replied. “The tide will be washing against the car in another ten or fifteen minutes.”
Miss Gordon and Connie’s mother looked up and down the beach. Usually any number of cars were in view. Not one was in sight when help was so badly needed.
Connie glanced out across the tumbling water. Not far from shore she saw a small motor boat chugging along. The operator was Raymond Curry, the hotel lifeguard.