Aileen saw, and screamed, and ran.  She was too far away.  The sudden jerk had parted the rotten strands of the old rope that held the boat, and slowly, yet all too quickly for ’Possum’s wild rush, the dinghy swung out into the stream.  The tide was running out, and the current was very swift.  It seemed in but a second; while they cried out and ran, that the current caught the old boat and whisked it swiftly away.