of the cabin. A volume of water rushed over them, and the furnishings of
the cabin were piled on top of them; in some instances a crushing weight
pinioned them to the floor.

The houseboat had sustained a severe blow, though as yet they could not
determine the nature of it. To make the situation more terrifying the
cabin was in utter darkness. For a moment the voices of the Meadow-Brook
Girls were stilled; then a chorus of screams, more terrified than
before, rose from the lips of the frightened girls.




CHAPTER V

LAND HO!


"Please--please keep quiet," cried Harriet, making herself heard above
the tumult. "Don't be frightened! We aren't sinking, and we are not
going to. Answer loudly when I call your names, so that I may know each
one of you is here."

"Now," she continued after the frightened girls had answered to their
names. "We'll try to find out what happened. You see that the boat has
stopped pitching, and the side roll isn't as pronounced as it was."

"What'th the anthwer?" piped Tommy.

"I don't know--yet," Harriet confessed. "But I'm going to know."