“Easy! Hold hard!”
And they could just see a dark object ahead on the water.
It couldn’t be the rock, for it was too small; and they could hardly imagine it to be part of the pier, or a boat on the beach.
They shouted; and, in a moment, an answer came, “Ahoy, there!” and they knew they had come upon a fishing-boat at anchor.
“It’s one of the fleet, waiting to get in. We’d better go alongside, and wait with them,” said Freckleton.
So Dick shouted to say they were coming, and they rowed carefully alongside.
The first sight that met Dick’s astonished eyes, as he reached across to seize the gunwale of the friendly boat, was Tom White, sitting comfortably smoking in the stern.
“Good day, young gentlemen,” said that worthy. “Can’t keep away from us, can’t yer?”
“Hullo, Tom! We’ve lost our way in the mist,” said Cresswell. “Where are we?”
“Reckon you’re in the bay, and a swim to the pierhead.”