Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/263

Rh and then I’d have known how far down they are.”

This was the outcome of Rob’s fishing, expedition. Early that August afternoon, he and Fred had gone down to the lower end of the  island, at some distance from the house. After Rob had fished for a half-hour, with but poor success, he proposed to Fred that they should  sit in the little green and white boat that was drawn up on shore, and he would fish from  there. Fred fell in with the idea, and the next minute the boys were luxuriously lounging in  the stern, quite unconscious of the fact that  their motions had rocked the boat until it had  left the bank and was quietly drifting off  down towards the Atlantic, with never an oar  on board.

If the boys had but known it, their situation was far from alarming. It was still quite early, so there were yet several hours of daylight before them, and they would soon be seen and rescued. Still, it was not exactly pleasant to be slowly moving away from home, with a very uncertain prospect of returning in time for dinner. And added to Rob’s alarm for him-