oh,I wish Jim had never gone ashore,'said Susan.'he would know what to do.'
'we can't do anything aboutthat,'replied John.'we've just got to take care of the Goblin and make sure nothing else goes wrong.'
'bang!...bang!'the noise of a bell surprised them.it seemed quite near,but they couldn't see anything in the fog.
'what's that?'called Roger.
'another boat,probably,'said susan.
'bang!...bang!'
'it's like thebell we heard this morning,'said John.'you know,on that buoy we passed in the harbour.'
'it's nearer than it was,'said Titty.
'bang!...bang!'
'it must be a boat,'said Roger.
John didn't really hear them.the Goblin was moving again with the water.what had gone wrong with the anchor?He hurried back to the bows and saw that the rope was hanging straight down into the water.Desperately he began to pull it in.
'what's happened?'asked Susan,coming up behind him.