The party huddled on top of the mattresses sat as still as mice, hardly daring to breathe. Their little craft continued to move gently through the water. They expected each moment that the fish would free himself, but evidently his fin had embedded itself so firmly in one of the bottom mattresses that he could not get loose; he went on swimming with his load on his back. Hour after hour they waited to feel their craft stop; but hour after hour it moved gently and slowly across the surface of the sea. They settled themselves more comfortably against each other, and spoke very little. No one noticed that their raft was now much lower in the water. The air was warm, the moonlight and the silence were extremely soothing, and the motion of the raft was gentle and languorous. Freddie's head sank against Aunt Amanda's shoulder, and his eyes closed; and in another moment he was asleep. Aunt Amanda herself nodded, and her eyes closed; she was asleep too. Toby yawned, and leaned heavily against the Sly Old Codger; his eyes closed, and--in short, every eye closed, and every frame relaxed heavily against its neighbor, and at last, doubled over in a closely huddled group in the exact center of their mattresses, the whole party slept; each and every one. The raft went on steadily and quietly through the water, the moon glittered on the sea, the raft settled deeper and deeper, and there was absolute silence on the ocean, except for a slight groan which came regularly and gently from the nose of the Churchwarden. CHAPTER XV A FALL IN THE DARK Freddie was the first to be awake in the morning. He was cramped and stiff. He sat up straight, rubbed his eyes, and stretched his arms. He looked abroad, and the sight which met him caused him to grasp Aunt Amanda's hand in excitement. "Land!" he cried, so loud that everyone awoke. "Blamed if it ain't," said Toby, and put on his white derby hat, considering that he had thereby dressed himself for the day. All the others sat bolt upright, and stared across the smooth blue sea, sparkling in the sunlight. Not more than a quarter of a mile away rose a tall black cliff straight up out of the water. It stretched away on either hand for miles and miles, and came to an end in the ocean at the right hand and the left, so that it was probably the side of an island. The sea rolled up and down at the foot of the cliff, making a beautiful white splash against the rocks. "But how on earth," said Aunt Amanda, "are we ever to get ashore on such a place as that?" "We're moving towards it," said Freddie. "Blamed if we ain't," said Toby. "We'll soon know whether we can get ashore or not."