The storm had whipped the waters of the bay into a fury, and the rain was so thick that to see even the island on which the wreck rested was impossible.

“Dick can’t come now,” said Dora.  “A boat on the bay would surely go down.”

Having finished the meal, Lesher and Baxter sat down in the living room to smoke and to talk over the situation.  The mate continued to drink, and half an hour later he fell asleep, sitting on the bench, and with his head on the table.

“The beast!” said Dora, as she peeped out at him.  “Well, there is one satisfaction,” she continued:  “he cannot harm us while he is asleep.”

“You girls better have your own dinner,” called out Baxter.  “I aint going to eat you up.”

“We will get our dinner when we please,” said Nellie, as she came out.  “We are not afraid of you, Dan Baxter.”

No more was said for a long time.  The girls ate what little they wished and washed up the dishes.  The rain still continued to fall in torrents, but the thunder and’ lightning drifted away to the eastward.

Dora was the most anxious of the trio, and at every opportunity she tried to look through the driving rain toward the wreck.

“I’d give almost anything to know if Dick is safe,” she murmured.

“Don’t be discouraged, Dora,” said Grace.  “Perhaps he will return as soon as the storm is over.”

The girls were huddled close to a window, looking out into the rain, when Dan Baxter threw aside the pipe he had been smoking and approached them.

“See here, girls,” he said, “why can’t we be friends?  What is the use of being enemies in such a place as this?”

“Dan Baxter, we want you to keep your distance,” said Nellie coldly.

“And if you do not, it will be the worse for you when the others come back,” put in Grace.

“Humph!  I reckon you think it is fine to ride such a high horse,” sneered the bully.  “What are you going to do when we bring the rest of the sailors over here?  We’ll be eleven to seven then.”

“Never mind what we’ll do,” said Dora.  “I would rather have the company of some of those sailors than your company.”

“That is where you make a mistake.  The sailors are all rough fellows, some of them worse than Jack Lesher.  Now, if you are willing to count me as a friend, I’ll stand by you when the crowd comes over.”

“We don’t want your friendship, Dan Baxter, so there!” cried Nellie.  “We know your past, and we know that you cannot be trusted.”

“Don’t think I am as good as the Rovers, eh?”

“We all know that you are not,” answered Grace.

“What have you done to Dick Rover?” questioned Dora.  “He ought to be here long before this.”

“Oh, I guess the storm is holding him back,” said Baxter, shifting uneasily as she gazed earnestly into his eyes.

“If anything has happened to Dick, I shall hold you responsible,” said Dora.