BOYS IN A TRAP.
Meanwhile the other boys, having disposed of their lunch, and hearing nothing from Joe and David, became more anxious, and set off for the lighthouse.
There they learned from Mrs. Kramer that John had reported Walter and Ned surrounded by the tide, and that the boat was to be launched to go to the rescue.
In great excitement the crowd of boys rushed down over the rocks to the place where the men had just pushed off in their boat.
There were two pairs of oars and two strong boat-hooks in the skiff, and the three men were ready to do all they could for the castaways.
The boat was soon out of sight beyond the spur of the cliff that helped to form the trap in which Walter and Ned were caught, and the crowd rushed back to their lunch-place, to see if they could get a glimpse of the boat there; but another spur, around which the boys had gone to hide, shut off the view.
When they reached their fishing-ground, they found, to their disgust, that the tide had risen over much of their lunch, and had carried off many of their nice, jointed rods, that were still floating provokingly near, but just out of reach.
The baskets had been tipped over by the waves, spilling all the fine fish they had caught in the morning.
"Did you ever see such luck?" cried Clifford Davis--"everything at sixes and sevens."
"This is the result of too much freedom, eh?" asked Don.