THE tires of Mrs. Williams’ car kept spinning faster and faster in the loose sand. They dug in deeply until the wheel was mired to its hub cap.

“Oh, dear, by trying to get out, I’m only making it worse.” Mrs. Williams gasped. “What shall we do?”

Switching off the engine, she sprang out of the car to look at the rear wheels.

By this time, Miss Gordon and all the Brownies except Vevi had come running across the beach with the lunch hampers. They were very worried.

“Are we really stuck?” demanded Jane breathlessly.

“Will the tide wash the car away?” questioned Sunny.

“Let’s all push,” suggested Connie.

“We’ll have to if we are to get out,” Mrs. Williams said. She gazed nervously at the waves. Each one was chewing away a larger and larger bite of sand.

By noticing the rim of dried seaweed along shore, the Brownies could tell that the ocean came exactly that far at high tide. The waves would be certain to sweep over the floor boards of the car.

“Salt water ruins a car very easily,” declared Miss Gordon. “We must get out somehow.”

She glanced hopefully toward the lighthouse. Connie offered to run there and ask for help. But Miss Gordon told her it would be useless as the lone attendant never was allowed to leave his post.

Jane found several large blocks of wood which she placed under the rear tires. It did no good. When Mrs. Williams tried to pull forward again, the pieces of wood were thrown aside.

“Let’s all push,” urged Rosemary. “I’m real strong.”

Miss Gordon agreed that the girls might try to shove the car out. She warned them however, not to strain hard.

At a given signal, everyone stood ready. All the Brownies, that is except Vevi. She was walking slowly from the lighthouse, not even aware that anything was wrong.

“Now girls, together!” As Miss Gordon spoke, Mrs. Williams let out the clutch of the car. Again the rear wheels began to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster.

Miss Gordon applied all her strength. The Brownies pushed too, but they were not very strong. Their feet kept slipping in the sand.

“It’s no use, no use at all,” the teacher finally gasped.

She signaled for Mrs. Williams to turn off the motor again. The Brownies could smell rubber. By turning so rapidly in the sand, the rear wheels had generated a great deal of heat.

“Can’t we send for a garageman to tow us out?” suggested Rosemary. “That’s what my mother always does when our car won’t run.”

“Dear, there isn’t time,” Mrs. Williams replied. “The tide will be washing against the car in another ten or fifteen minutes.”

Miss Gordon and Connie’s mother looked up and down the beach. Usually any number of cars were in view. Not one was in sight when help was so badly needed.

Connie glanced out across the tumbling water. Not far from shore she saw a small motor boat chugging along. The operator was Raymond Curry, the hotel lifeguard. “Maybe he’ll help us!” she exclaimed.

Mrs. Williams and Miss Gordon had noticed the boat at the same moment.

“If we had a strong man to push, I think we might get out!” exclaimed Mrs. Williams. “Let’s call to him.”

“He’s a lifeguard,” laughed Sunny. “He ought to help us rescue a car!”

The Brownies shouted as loudly as they could and waved. Mr. Curry heard them, for he throttled down the engine and turned to gaze toward shore.

“Help us!” yelled Connie. “Our car’s stuck in the sand.”

“And the tide’s coming in fast!” screamed Jane. She cupped her hands to her mouth to make the words carry.

Now the Brownies were certain that the lifeguard understood their request. Even if he couldn’t hear, how could he fail to see that they were in trouble?

The lifeguard didn’t even wave his hand in friendly greeting. He stared toward shore for a minute, and then turned his head away. Speeding up the motor again, he cruised on past.

Miss Gordon and Mrs. Williams made no comment. But they looked at each other in a most peculiar way. “He saw us!” Jane declared in a shrill voice. “How mean of him not to help!”

“We’ll never get out now,” Mrs. Williams said. She was deeply discouraged.

Each huge wave that swept in came a little closer to the car. Finally a big one actually lapped at one of the rear tires.

“We may as well take our belongings and climb back on one of the dunes,” Miss Gordon said. “The sea will not rise higher than the rim of seaweed.”

“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Connie. “I see someone coming down the beach!”

She had noticed a man with a cane, strolling along the sand toward the lighthouse.

“Why, it’s Captain Tarwell,” she recognized him.

The old seaman came closer, gazing toward the group of Brownies. Observing how near their car was to the foaming sea, he began to walk faster.

“Ahoy,” he greeted the girls. “What’s wrong here? Aground, eh, and with a strong tide running.”

The Brownies, all talking at once, tried to explain what had happened.

Captain Tarwell didn’t bother to listen for he could see for himself what was wrong. He knew too, that he would have to work fast to beat the tide. “I’m not as strong as I was in the old days when I was master of the Gorchester,” he remarked after inspecting the mired wheels. “But with all hands to help, I think we can heave ’er free. Lay to!”

Rosemary, Jane and Miss Gordon got on one side of the car. Connie and Sunny stood by the other, to help the captain. Mrs. Williams started the engine again.

“Heave-ho!” shouted the captain. “All together now! Push, maties, push!”

The Brownies exerted all their strength. Slowly the car began to move. One tire caught firmly in the sand and then the other.

Suddenly the car spurted forward so fast that Connie and Jane went sprawling in the sand. It did not hurt them. They were laughing as they scrambled to their feet.

“We’re out!” cried Connie. “Just in time too!”

Mrs. Williams swung the car in as narrow an arc as possible. Another moment and all four wheels were on firm sand again. Best of all, the car now was headed toward the cottage beach.

“Oh, Captain, we’re so grateful!” Miss Gordon thanked him. “I hope you didn’t strain yourself pushing so hard.” “Not a bit,” he chuckled, picking up his cane. “Always glad to answer an SOS distress call.”

“Can’t we give you ride to town?” Mrs. Williams offered.

“I am a mite tuckered from my walk,” the captain admitted. “Aye, if you have room, I’ll ride along.”

By this time the Brownies had piled into the back seat, leaving the front for Mrs. Williams, Miss Gordon and the captain.

“Where’s Vevi?” demanded Mrs. Williams.

Everyone looked toward the lighthouse. Vevi was coming, but very slowly. She seemed to be holding something in her arms, beneath her brown sweater.

“Vevi!” shouted Jane. “You hurry up!”

Mrs. Williams tooted the car horn sharply three times.

Vevi began to walk faster. But despite urging by the Brownies, she would not hurry.

“What’s she got?” Jane demanded suspiciously. “She doesn’t want us to see it.”

Vevi, unaware of the danger the Brownies had been in, grinned from ear to ear as she sauntered up.

“Where’ve you been so long?” Jane demanded. “And what are you hiding under that sweater?”

Vevi answered not a word. She kept grinning and looking very wise. Whatever she held beneath the sweater was alive, for the girls could see the woolen cloth twitch.

“Jump into the car, Vevi!” Mrs. Williams ordered impatiently. “We’ve lost too much time now.”

Thus urged, Vevi leaped into the back seat. But she kept tight hold of the sweater.

“You went off because you didn’t want to give the bird report,” Jane accused her.

“Maybe I did,” Vevi admitted. “But let me tell you a thing or two. I’ve got something better than an old stupid report. I’ve got a real live bird!”