When the runaway craft had been hauled up on the rocks beyond reach of the tide, and unloaded, the old keeper and Sidney set about carrying out their part of the bargain; but nearly an hour was spent before the motor had been stowed aboard the cat-boat to the satisfaction of all concerned. While the visitor was working his boat out of the cove, Captain Eph said to Sidney: "Run into the kitchen an' get your coat. Tell Uncle Zenas why we're goin' out, an' skip lively, for Sammy won't have any idea the tinker was here jest when we most needed him, an' will be in a terrible stew, thinkin' there's no way for him to get off the shoal." Sidney obeyed promptly; but it was necessary to answer Uncle Zenas' eager questions, and fully five minutes more were spent before the rescuers could set off. The cook came down to the cove before the dory had been pushed out, and the expression on his face told that he was very anxious regarding the safety of the first assistant. "You ought'er started the very minute the dory was picked up, Ephraim Downs!" he cried. "It ain't no ways certain that the poor fellow didn't tumble out of the boat, an' has been swimmin' 'round ever since!" "I'll go bail that Sammy never tumbled over-board," Captain Eph replied cheerily as he pulled the dory around until she was headed toward the east. "He's too good a sailor to do a trick like that; but I reckon he hasn't been any too comfortable in mind since the boat drifted away." Then, when they were beyond sound of Uncle Zenas' voice, the old keeper muttered, as if to convince himself: "Of course nothin' has happened to Sammy, beyond losin' the boat; but I do wish Uncle Zenas wouldn't do quite so much croakin'. Jest because he was set agin the wreckin', he'll be conjurin' up all sorts of terrible things that might have happened, an' Sammy won't have the pleasantest time that ever was, when he gets back." "How do you suppose the dory got adrift?" Sidney asked, not knowing what else to say, and beginning to feel a bit nervous. "That's what beats me. I'd never thought Sammy could be so careless, but it seems that he was." Then Captain Eph pulled vigorously and in silence, Sidney steering to the best of his ability with one of the heavy oars, and the little craft rose and fell with an uneasy motion on the rising sea. "There's the wreck!" Sidney cried as he swung the dory around, and Captain Eph turned quickly to look, as he asked huskily: "See anythin' of Sammy?" "He must be under the forecastle deck working, and perhaps doesn't know that the boat went adrift," Sidney replied, as he searched in vain with his eyes for some sign of the first assistant. There was an expression of deepest anxiety on Captain Eph's face as he labored yet more energetically at the oars; but not a word was spoken until the dory was as near the hulk as was safe while the waves were running so high.