FOR a minute all seven folks in that car were too amazed to speak; then, suddenly every one began to talk at once.

“Will we sail out to sea?” asked Mary Jane.

“Driver, do you know when the tide is high?” from Mrs. Merrill.

“Of course, there’ll be no one along this road while the storm lasts!” cried Mrs. Berry.

“Will we just sit here and drown?” exclaimed Ellen.

“I guess I’ll swim ashore!” laughed Alice, who thought the experience a lark it was so unusual.

And as they talked the lightning flashed and sparkled; the thunder roared deafeningly and the rain on the car and on the water around them made so much noise they had to yell to make each other hear.

Suddenly Mrs. Merrill happened to think of time. She glanced at her watch and exclaimed, “It’s four o’clock! If I recall rightly from yesterday on the beach that’s nearly high tide. If that’s the case the water won’t get any higher.”

“What’s tide?” asked Mary Jane.

“It’s the rising and falling of the water, dear,” said Mrs. Merrill. “Twice a day the water spreads out a few feet over the land and twice a day it goes back. Some other time I’ll tell you more about it. If the water doesn’t come up much deeper here we’ll not be in any real danger and I think we’d better sit still till the storm goes over. Surely such a hard storm will not last long.”

So they tried to settle themselves comfortably for a long wait. But it wasn’t easy. The roar of the thunder and the water and the weird light from the storm’s bright flashes made them all uneasy. They played twenty questions and they counted the seconds on Mrs. Merrill’s watch between the lightning and the thunder. But nothing seemed very interesting.

“I’ll tell you what let’s do,” suggested Mrs. Berry, “let’s talk about where we are going and what we plan to see before we go back up north. That will be fun.”

And it was. Mrs. Merrill said she and the girls planned to go back to Jacksonville in a day or two where they hoped to meet Mr. Merrill.

“You don’t mean to tell me,” exclaimed Mrs. Berry, “that these girls are going home without a ride up the Ocklawaha? That seems a shame!”

“The Ocklawaha?” questioned Mrs. Merrill; “I don’t believe I know that trip.”

“Then you surely must take it,” said Mrs. Berry; “the girls will love riding on that great, queer boat through the wild forests where they can see alligators and snakes and turtles and orange groves and Indian battle fields and everything, right close at hand. When we get home I’ll show you the folders.”

“Do they have really truly alligators growing outside a fence?” asked Mary Jane, her eyes big with wonder.

“Do they?” answered Mrs. Berry vigorously; “you just wait and see! Alligators along the banks and in the water and right near the boat.”

“Ugh!” exclaimed Mary Jane, as a sudden thought struck her; “are there any here?”

“I hope not,” said Mrs. Berry with a shiver; “no, girls, I was just joking,” she added as she saw the three girls glance fearfully at the water; “alligators like jungles and heavy vegetation. They would never come up so near a road—you may be sure of that.”

“Listen!” exclaimed Alice suddenly; “wasn’t that thunder farther away?”

The driver loosened the front curtain and peered out. Yes, the storm was going away, that was plain to see. The thunder was getting fainter every minute, the lightning was only a glow and the rain had nearly stopped.

“I do believe it’s going away as quickly as it came,” said Aunt Sue hopefully. “What time is it now anyway?”

“Five o’clock,” replied Mrs. Merrill; “how’s the tide, driver?”

“Going down,” he answered; “see? It’s below the running board a-ready. I guess I’ll see if I can start her up.” He pressed the button on his starter and the wheels of the auto began to spin but the car didn’t move an inch. “Just as I was afraid!” he muttered; “stuck in the mud. I’ll wade to shore and walk down the road till I come to a house where I can get help to pull us out. I reckon you’ll all be safe enough.” He pulled off his shoes and socks, waded to shore and set off up the road. By this time the rain had stopped and the sun was breaking through the clouds, so sitting in a car out in the water seemed much less dismal.

He hadn’t been gone more than fifteen minutes before an auto pulled up in front of the stranded car and out jumped the driver and two men. “I met ’em up the road,” their driver explained, “and we’ve brought a plank and a rope.”

“Yes, we’ll soon have you all out and a-riding home,” said one of the men.

First they laid the great long plank from the road to the running board of the car. Then Mrs. Merrill, who had been loosening the curtains, stepped out to walk to shore.

“Better let the little lady go first to see if it’s all right,” suggested the driver. “Here, Alice, your mother can hold you to start and I’ll meet you to finish.”

So Alice climbed out and holding tightly to her mother’s out-stretched hand, started the scary looking walk to shore. The plank did tip and sway, but the men stood on the shore end so it would not slip and she made the journey safely.

“That wasn’t hard a bit!” exclaimed Alice; “I’d like to do it again!”

“One at a time, please, one at a time,” laughed the driver. “You’ll be playing pirate first thing you know—I remember I used to read about walking the plank in pirate books, though goodness knows it wasn’t anything like this! Who’s coming next?”

Mrs. Merrill lifted Mary Jane out and set her on the plank; then she walked close behind and held onto the little girl’s shoulders as they slowly crept to shore. Mrs. Berry came next with Ellen held in front of her the same way and last of all Aunt Sue. Then the men waded out, tied the heavy rope onto the car, fastened it onto their own machine and with a great tugging and pulling and jerking the car was pulled loose from the river bed and dragged up onto the road.

“There you are!” exclaimed one of the men, “all ready to drive. Now, young man,” he said to the driver, “suppose you see if your engine’s damaged and then we’ll be going.” While the driver inspected his engine Mrs. Merrill paid the two men for their trouble so that when the engine was found to be unharmed they started home at once. The water had drained off the hard shell roads very quickly and the drive home was not half so unpleasant as might have been expected.

In a very short time they came to a stop in front of their own hotel. “Well, I surely am glad to be back!” exclaimed Mrs. Merrill.

“And we surely are glad to have you here safe and sound!” cried good Mrs. Trudy coming out to greet them. “We’ve all been anxious about you. Did the storm hit your way?”

“Did it?” answered Mrs. Merrill; “ask the girls!”

The three girls began talking at once and it was a wonder Mrs. Trudy could hear a thing.

“I just knew something had happened when you were so late,” she said when the girls stopped for breath. “And you must be starved—did you know it’s after seven? I saved some hot dinner for you so run right in and eat it.”

Other guests had long finished eating but they followed the little party into the dining room and listened to the story of the exciting experience. But after dinner was eaten and the story had been told and re-told till every one had heard it many a time, the girls found they were tired and nobody, for a wonder, objected when Mrs. Merrill suggested going to their rooms.

“Oh dear,” said Mrs. Trudy, suddenly, “where did he put that box? Tom had something for you, Mary Jane, and he was so particular you should have it first thing when you came home but for the life of me I don’t know where it is!” She hunted around diligently for a minute or two and then said, “Well, he must have taken it off with him. You’d better get to bed, little lady, so you can get up early in the morning and see what it is.”

“Can’t you tell?” coaxed Mary Jane.

“Tell!” exclaimed Mrs. Trudy. “I should say I couldn’t! Tom will tell you himself because it’s his. He comes early you know, so you may come down the first minute you are dressed and I’ll wager he’ll be looking for you.”

“Won’t you even hint?” asked Mary Jane as she started up the stairs.

“Well,” laughed Mrs. Trudy, “I might tell you that it’s alive and it’s red or brown or green or yellow—I don’t know which just at this minute—if that’s any help to you.”

“I guess I might as well go to bed,” said Mary Jane after she had thought hard for a minute, “’cause that doesn’t help a bit. I guess I’ll just have to go to bed and get up in the morning, I guess I will.”