"Is that all? Then how can we ever get her in nearer the shore?" demanded his chum, forlornly, as he continued to tug away.
"Have to trust to luck for that," came the immediate reply.
"Tell me how?" implored Maurice, who somehow failed to grasp the situation quite as accurately as the other.
"The shore lines change constantly, you know."
"Yes, that's so; but we might open up a big pocket at any time, as soon as strike a point sticking out," suggested Maurice.
"Sure. That's what I meant when I said we'd have to stick everlastingly at it, and trust to luck for the rest," replied his comrade.
Perhaps it was because Thad had been up against hard knocks more than his friends, but one thing was evident—when trouble of this kind came he seemed able to show a better and more hopeful spirit than Maurice.
Another short space of time passed.
"Say, this is working our passage all right!" came from Maurice.
"But so long as we hold our own we ain't got a thing to say. And I think we're doing that, don't you, Maurice?"