Captain Corbet also was no less anxious, though much less agitated.  He acknowledged, with pain, that it was all his fault, but, appealed to all the boys, one by one, asking them how he should know that the rope was rotten.  He informed them that the rope was an old favorite of his, and that he would have willingly risked his life on it.  He blamed himself chiefly, however, for not staying in the boat himself, instead of leaving Tom in it.  To all his remarks the boys said but little, and contented themselves with putting questions to him about the coast, the tides, the wind, the currents, and the fog.

The boys on board went to sleep about one o’clock, and waked at sunrise.  Then they watched the shore wistfully, and wondered why Bart and Bruce did not make their appearance.  But Bart and Bruce, worn out by their long watch, did not wake till nearly eight o’clock.  Then they hastily dressed themselves, and after a very hurried breakfast they bade good by to good Mrs. Watson.

“I shall be dreadfully anxious about that poor boy,” said she, sadly.  “Promise me to telegraph as soon as you can about the result.”

Bart promised.

Then they hurried down to the beach.  The tide was yet a considerable distance out; but a half dozen stout fellows, whose sympathies were fully enlisted in their favor, shoved the boat down over the mud, and launched her.

Then Bart and Bruce took the oars, and soon reached the schooner, where the boys awaited their arrival in mournful silence.

VI.

Tom adrift.—­The receding Shores.—­The Paddle.—­The Roar of Surf—­ The Fog Horn.—­The Thunder of the unseen Breakers.—­A Horror of great Darkness.—­Adrift in Fog and Night.

When the boat in which Tom was darted down the stream, he at first felt paralyzed by utter terror; but at length rousing himself, he looked around.  As the boat drifted on, his first impulse was to stop it; and in order to do this it was necessary to find an oar.  The oar which Captain Corbet had used to scull the boat to the schooner had been thrown on board of the latter, so that the contents of the boat might be passed up the more conveniently.  Tom knew this, but he thought that there might be another oar on board.  A brief examination sufficed to show him that there was nothing of the kind.  A few loose articles lay at the bottom; over these was the sail which Captain Corbet had bought in the ship-yard, and on this was the box of pilot-bread.  That was all.  There was not a sign of an oar, or a board, or anything of the kind.

No sooner had he found out this than he tried to tear off one of the seats of the boat, in the hope of using this as a paddle.  But the seats were too firmly fixed to be loosened by his hands, and, after a few frantic but ineffectual efforts, he gave up the attempt.