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 on the lower headland , saw it disappear before their very eyes and had not a doubt but that Anne had gone down with it . For a moment they stood still , white as sheets , frozen with horror at the tragedy ; then , shrieking at the tops of their voices , they started on a frantic run up through the woods , never pausing as they crossed the main road to glance the way of the bridge . Anne , clinging desperately to her precarious foothold , saw their flying forms and heard their shrieks .
Help would soon come , but meanwhile her XXXXX was a very uncomfortable one .
aid landing nobody piles position run scream stub tragedy water