Dot awoke after a little, and so did Tom Jonah. The whole party went down to the brush-fringed shore. Tess saw that the girl had hidden her raft very ingeniously. And it was evident, too, that she hated to leave the island so long before evening.
"Got myself in a nice mess!" the Corner House girl heard her mutter, as she went about binding the three logs together more tightly with the strong rope from the cedar boat.
She worked hard for half an hour, standing almost waist deep in the water as she made the logs secure. It was not a heavy raft--nor was it very safe looking, to Tess' mind.
But fortunately Dot thought it would be great fun to ride on such a craft, and Tess was too brave to say anything that would really frighten Dorothy.
Tom Jonah became restless and wanted to wander about; but the big girl was very sharp with him. "If he were my dog I'd make him mind better!" she threatened. "If anything gives us away, it will be that dog."
Tess did not understand this; and like Dot she felt hurt when anybody criticised Tom Jonah. "Love me, love my dog" was the motto of the younger Kenway sisters.
Finally the big girl pronounced the raft strong enough, and she waded out of the water and put on her skirts again. "Now, get aboard there," she commanded. "If we've got to go, we might as well start. The tide will be less strong now."
Dot skipped aboard the raft with her Alice-doll, in great glee; Tess followed more slowly. But when Tom Jonah tried to come, too, the big girl, with the broken oar she used for a paddle, drove him back.
"It won't hold him up, too!" she cried. "Get out!"
"Oh! don't hurt Tom Jonah!" wailed Dot, shrilly. "Don't!"
"You look out!" warned Tess. "He'll grab you!"
Tom Jonah certainly _did_ grab the paddle. And he nearly wrenched it from the hands of the big girl, strong as she was.
"He'll tip us all over!" declared the girl, angrily, flushed and breathing heavily. "Don't you see how deep in the water we are? Any little wave will come right over the logs and wet us."
"Well!" cried Tess. "We're barefooted. And we can't leave Tom Jonah behind."
"He can swim, can't he? Silly!" exclaimed the big girl. She pushed off the raft suddenly, leaving the troubled dog on the bank. The current caught the raft instantly and headed it down stream. The big girl hurried to dip her paddle in the water on the lower side and swerve the head of the raft around.