`` Nobody sees or hears or cares , and those horrid boys will never catch up ! '' she cried in despair , as the boat began to rock more and more , and the loud swash of water dashing in and out of the Chasm drew nearer and nearer . Holding on now with both hands she turned and looked straight before her , pale and shivering , while her eyes tried to see some sign of hope among the steep cliffs that rose up on the left . No one was there , though usually at this hour they were full of visitors , and it was time for the walkers to have arrived . `` I wonder if Gerty and Mamie will be sorry if I 'm drowned , '' thought Jill , remembering the poor girl who had been lost in the Chasm not long ago . Her lively fancy pictured the grief of her friends at her loss ; but that did not help or comfort her now , and as her anxious gaze wandered along the shore , she said aloud , in a pensive tone , -- `` Perhaps I shall be wrecked on Norman 's Woe , and somebody will make poetry about me . It would be pretty to read , but I do n't want to die that way . Oh , why did I come ! Why did n't I stay safe and comfortable in my own boat ? '' At the thought a sob rose , and poor Jill laid her head down on her lap to cry with all her heart , feeling very helpless , small , and forsaken alone there on the great sea . In the midst of her tears came the thought , `` When people are in danger , they ask God to save them ; '' and , slipping down upon her knees , she said her prayer as she had never said it before , for when human help seems gone we turn to Him as naturally as lost children cry to their father , and feel sure that he will hear and answer them . After that she felt better , and wiped away the drops that blinded her , to look out again like a shipwrecked mariner watching for a sail . And there it was ! Close by , coming swiftly on with a man behind it , a sturdy brown fisher , busy with his lobster-pots , and quite unconscious how like an angel he looked to the helpless little girl in the rudderless boat . `` Hi ! hi ! Oh , please do stop and get me ! I 'm lost , no oars , nobody to fix the sail ! Oh , oh ! please come ! ''
screamed XXXXX , waving her hat frantically as the other boat skimmed by and the man stared at her as if she really was a mermaid with a fishy tail .
Chasm Gerty Jill Mamie Norman Woe drowned left lobster-pots oars