He stared hard at Frank for half a minute; then with some muttered
words, as if he realized the folly of butting up against fate, threw
the useless weapon far out on the heaving surface of the lake.
After that a dense silence fell upon them. The men were too down-hearted
to want to talk; and there was little that the boys had to communicate,
because they were now in a position where they could do absolutely
nothing to help themselves; and must depend entirely upon the coming of
the tug.
An hour passed, and it seemed very long. All of them were more or less
wet because of the splashing waves; but as the air was balmy, they cared
little for such a thing as that, if only the tug would show up.
Innumerable times did Andy stretch his neck, and look toward the quarter
in which it must appear, if it came at all; but the hour began to extend
far into a second one, and as yet there was nothing seen that brought
with it a ray of hope.
Worse still the sea was gradually getting more and more tempestuous, it
seemed to Andy, though the sky remained absolutely clear, and, there was
not a sign of a storm.
If that had been a fog in the far distance which Frank had sighted, the
breeze must have long ago dissipated it entirely.
Lower sank the sun, until it was now not more than half an hour above
the horizon, if its stay could be measured in the way of minutes and
seconds.
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