Even Ruth Fielding had paid no attention to the warning of the Reef Island hermit regarding a change in the weather, in spite of the fact that she was anxious to return to the camp near Herringport. It was not until the _Stazy_ was outside the inlet late in the afternoon that Skipper Phil Gordon noted the threatening signs in sea and sky.
"That's how it goes," the one-armed mariner said. "When we aren't dependent on the wind to fill our canvas, we neglect watching every little weather change. She's going to blow by and by."
"Do you think it will be a real storm?" asked Ruth, who sat beside him at the steering wheel and engine, watching how he managed the mechanism.
"Maybe. But with good luck we will make Beach Plum Point long before it amounts to anything."
The long graybacks were rather pleasant to ride over at first. Even Aunt Kate was not troubled by the prospect. It was so short a run to the anchorage behind the Point that nobody expressed fear.
When the spray began to fly over the bows the girls merely squealed a bit, although they hastily found extra wraps. If the _Stazy_ plunged and shipped half a sea now and then, nobody was made anxious. And soon the Point was in plain view.
To make the run easier, however, Skipper Gordon had sailed the motor-yacht well out to sea. When he shifted the helm to run for the entrance to the bay, the waves began to slap against the _Stazy's_ side. She rolled terrifically and the aspect of affairs was instantly changed.
"Oh, dear me!" moaned Jennie Stone. "How do you feel, Henri? I did not bargain for this rough stuff, did you? Oh!"
"'Mister Captain, stop the ship, I want to get off and walk!'" sang Helen gaily. "Don't lose all hope, Heavy. You'll never sink if you do go overboard."
"Isn't she mean?" sniffed the plump girl. "And I am only afraid for Henri's sake."
"I don't like this for my own sake," murmured Aunt Kate.
"Are you cold, dear?" her niece asked, with quick sympathy. "Here! I don't really need this cape with my heavy sweater."
She removed the heavy cloth garment from her own shoulders and with a flirt sought to place it around Aunt Kate. The wind swooped down just then with sudden force. The _Stazy_ rolled to leeward.
Bulging under pressure of the wind, the cape flew over the rail. Jennie tried to clutch it again; Henri plunged after it, too. Colliding, the two managed between them to miss the garment altogether. It dropped into the water just under the rail.