One o'clock
For no one knew where they had gone , and the empty boat was drifting away from Sandy Cove instead of toward it . At first , the girls were buoyed up by the excitement of the situation , and felt that somebody must find them shortly . But no other boat was in sight , and as Patty said , everybody was getting ready for the fair and no one was likely to go out rowing that day . One o'clock came , and then half-past one , and though the girls had tried to invent some way out of their difficulty they could n't think of a thing to do , but sit still and wait . They had tied their handkerchiefs on the highest bushes of the island , there being no trees , but they well knew that these tiny white signals were not likely to attract anybody 's attention . They had shouted until they were hoarse , and they had talked over all the possibilities of the case . `` Of course they have missed us by this time , '' said Patty , `` and of course they are looking for us . ''