In a very few moments it was necessary for Elaine to scramble to her feet , pick up her cloth of gold coverlet and pall of blackest samite and gaze blankly at a big crack in the bottom of her barge through which the water was literally pouring . That sharp stake at the landing had torn off the strip of batting nailed on the flat . Anne did not know this , but it did not take her long to realize that she was in a dangerous plight . At this rate the flat would fill and sink long before it could drift to the lower headland . Where were the oars ? Left behind at the landing ! Anne gave one gasping little scream which nobody ever heard ; she was white to the lips , but she did not lose her self-possession . There was one chance -- just one . `` I was horribly frightened , '' she told Mrs. Allan the next day , `` and it seemed like years while the flat was drifting down to the bridge and the water rising in it every moment . I prayed , Mrs. Allan , most earnestly , but I did n't shut my eyes to pray , for I knew the only way God could save me was to let the flat float close enough to one of the bridge piles for me to climb up on it . You know the piles are just old tree trunks and there are lots of knots and old branch stubs on them . It was proper to pray , but I had to do my part by watching out and right well I knew it . I just said , ` Dear God , please take the flat close to a pile and I 'll do the rest , ' over and over again . Under such circumstances you do n't think much about making a flowery prayer . But mine was answered , for the flat bumped right into a pile for a minute and I flung the scarf and the shawl over my shoulder and scrambled up on a big providential stub . And there I was , Mrs. Allan , clinging to that slippery old pile with no way of getting up or down . It was a very unromantic position , but I did n't think about that at the time . You do n't think much about romance when you have just escaped from a watery grave . I said a grateful prayer at once and then I gave all my attention to holding on tight , for I knew I should probably have to depend on human aid to get back to dry land . '' The flat drifted under the bridge and then promptly sank in midstream .
Ruby , Jane , and Diana , already awaiting it XXXXX the lower headland , saw it disappear before their very eyes and had not a doubt but that Anne had gone down with it .
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