A great exhaustion seized him. He sank again with a quivering breath. But now his feet touched sand. With new strength he plunged ahead. Again he was in deep water but he swam with eager strokes. The dreadful pain stabbed but he did not heed. Now he saw moving lights. He was near the beach! With a heartbreaking effort he fought the strength of the water, finally gaining the shallow depths. He heard voices nearby in the darkness. Knee-deep in the water he tried to shout but he had no strength. A terrible faintness was creeping over him. His arms outstretched, he stumbled forward toward the voices. Oh, he must _not_ yield to that overpowering sleepiness until he had made them know! "Help--help!" he gasped, reeling toward the shadowy forms. "What the blazes--" A man ran forward. Two others came at his heels. "Why, _it's Lav Green_!" one of them cried. "The _Arabella_--adrift out there--Sidney's on it--oh--_help_! And then Lavender slipped into the strong arms that reached out to catch him. "Quick, the _Sally_! She's at Rockman's!" Captain Davies ran toward Rockman's wharf. Before Jed Starrow's men, concealed behind the shed could guess their intention, three men had jumped into the big motor boat and had swung her free of the wharf. "What the hell--" shouted an ugly voice after them, but the _Sally_ only chugged out into the darkness of the bay. * * * * * "Look, Sid--light! It's--it's--morning!" Mart's voice came in a thin whisper. For a long time the girls had lain huddled against the taff-rail of the boat, too weary and disheartened to even talk. Sidney lifted her face to the tiny streak of light that gleamed palely in the east. Then she shook Pola ever so slightly. Poor Pola had fallen into a sleep of exhaustion. She stirred now with a little cry. "What is it?" "It's morning--daylight. See--there--" "Oh--h!" Pola whimpered. "Is that all?" She clung to Sidney in fresh terror. "If we're going to die--I'd rather not _see_--" "Hark," cried Mart, suddenly leaning forward. "Don't you hear something? Girls, that's a motor boat! I _know_! Quick. Let's signal! Yell! Wave something! _Anything!_" She sprang to her feet, leaning her body against the rail for support as the boat rolled in the heavy sea. She cupped her hands to her lips and shouted lustily. "Come on, girls!" she commanded. "Maybe it's the pirates," wailed Pola. "I don't care if it is! I don't care _what_ it is!" And Mart and Sidney lifted their chorus. Out of the mist that lay over the surging water a small, gray object gradually shaped. The chug-chug of an engine now came distinctly to their ears. After a little they could make out the forms of two men standing. And then someone shouted faintly. Pola, a solemn happiness transfiguring her face, clung to Sidney.