CHAPTER IV. 

SAVING THE SLOOP. 

It was no pleasant position to be in. The three lads had been cast so suddenly into the angry waters that for the moment they could not comprehend the situation. 

Then Blumpo let out a yell of terror. 

"Save me! De boat has gone down!" 

He was wrong, however, for a second later the row-boat bobbed up, less than four yards off. 

"This way!" shouted Harry to his companions, but the wind fairly drowned his voice. He swam toward the upturned craft, and Blumpo and Jerry were not slow in following it. 

Hardly had they reached it when a new peril confronted them. The Cutwater was bearing directly down upon them. With every sail set, she was in the very act of cutting them to pieces! 

"Look! look!" yelled Harry. "We are doomed!" 

"My gracious!" moaned Blumpo. 

On and on came the sloop, with gigantic bounds over the whitecaps. Clarence Conant seemed utterly powerless to stay her course, or steer her to the right or left. 

The young ladies on board with him huddled in a heap near the tiny cabin, their faces white with terror. 

It was truly a thrilling moment. 

Of the entire crowd Jerry was the only one to keep perfectly cool. 

He was astride the row-boat, directly in the centre of the bottom, and it seemed as if the prow of the Cutwater must strike him in a second more. 

"Every one dive under!" he called out, and went overboard like a flash. 
Who first broke the silence?
Then Blumpo let out a yell of terror. 