They had not missed quiet little Amy, and if they had, would probably have thought she had gone for an unusually long swim. And now had come her frantic cry for help. "What is the matter?" Betty cried over and over to herself, as she put all her strength into the long, powerful strokes. Amy was a splendid swimmer, almost as good as Betty herself. For one terrible moment the thought of sharks dashed into Betty's mind and she shuddered. But the next minute reason reasserted itself and she realized that sharks had never been seen on this coast. Baby ones, perhaps, but not the man-eating variety. She raised her head from the water and gazed in the direction of the vivid cap. Yes, there it was! Thank heaven there was still time. "Amy! Amy!" she called, "I'm coming. Just hold on for a minute, Honey. I'm almost to you." No answer came back to her, and when she looked again for the cap she found to her horror that it was gone. "Oh," she moaned, "I'm too late. I'm too late. Oh, Amy, Amy, just another minute--just a little minute--" she redoubled her efforts and suddenly gave a shout of joy. There was the cap again, almost under her hand. In her frenzy of haste she had covered the distance with almost unbelievable speed. Her shout seemed to rouse Amy, who had been struggling feebly to keep her head above the water, and the girl turned a terror-stricken face to her. "Can you put a hand on my shoulder?" gasped Betty, beginning to feel the tremendous effort she had made. "Hang on to me, Honey, and we'll get out of this all right." Amy clutched her shoulder, and slowly the Little Captain turned about, saving her strength for the long swim back. She could not be too long about it either, she thought desperately. Amy was almost exhausted and had all she could do to keep her head above the water. It all depended on her, Betty. If she could get to shore, carrying the double weight before Amy's strength left her and she gave up altogether, all well and good. But if she could not--she groaned and set herself grimly to her task. She had covered about an eighth of the distance back when her heart leapt suddenly and she gave a sigh of relief. There were two other bobbing caps on the water coming rapidly nearer--and those two caps could belong to nobody but Mollie and Grace. [Illustration: TWO OTHER BOBBING CAPS WERE COMING RAPIDLY NEARER. _The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point._ _Page 193._] That meant help--and, oh, she did need help! She was putting forth all her strength, but to her agonized fancy she was not going forward at all. Amy's almost dead weight dragging at her shoulder seemed a nightmare. Yet she dreaded beyond anything else to be relieved of the weight for that would mean--. She refused to put the awful thought into words, merely driving herself on more desperately. And all the time she was gasping out words of hope and courage to the poor girl she supported.