Page:Fairview Boys at Lighthouse Cove.djvu/92

88 on the cabin roof that the boys had to shout to make each other hear. The thunder was terrific, and the bright lightning cut through the blackness that was almost as dark as night.

"Say, this boat is bobbing some!" suddenly exclaimed Frank.

Indeed the Skip was in violent motion, and the boys did not know what to make of it. She swung about, and then brought up suddenly as the rope tightened.

Then, all at once, there was a violent jerk, and the boat swung about more than ever.

"I hope that rope holds!" cried Sammy.

"So do I!" exclaimed Bob. "What if it should break?"

Then the Skip seemed to swing entirely around, and a moment later she raced off through the storm, tossing violently up and down on the waves. The boys heard confused shouts above the noise of the storm.

"What is it?" cried Sammy.

"Something has happened!" yelled Frank.

"I'm going to have a look," said Bob resolutely, as he slid back one of the cabin doors. The burst of wind and rain in his face almost drove him within again, but he went out into the little open space.

Then his worst fears were realized. The Skip had broken away from her dock, and was racing before the wind and tide down the channel toward the inlet.

Bob could just make out, on the end of the dock, the figure of an excited man, waving his hands to him. But what he said could not be heard. Bob was sure the man was Silas.

"What is it—what's happened?" called Frank.

"We've broken loose!" shouted Bob, coming back into the cabin. Even in those few seconds he had been drenched with the rain.

"Broken loose from where?" asked Sammy.