er masculine
garb clinging to her, was sitting up.

"I am sorry, Beel," she said. "I get the scare up and I grab at you. I
not know for sure what I am doing. You will forgive me, no?"

"Think nothing of it," Parker answered. "Anybody can get scared under
these circumstances."

"That I know," she answered. "But you saved my life. And that I will
remember."

"Forget it," Parker said. "I did what had to be done, nothing more."

"But I will remember it," she calmly repeated.

Parker was silent. Under her hardness for the first time he glimpsed
something deeper, finer. She was the type who meant what she said. She
was a woman who paid her debts. Under other circumstances.... Parker put
the thought out of his mind.

Now he set about doing what had to be done--paddling to the island. He
turned his eyes toward it.

The island was gone. Calm, serene, the level face of the sea stretched
away to the horizon.

Fear, dark, sudden, and overwhelming, arose in Bill Parker. The fear did
not come up just because the face of the sea was level and calm, the
island not visible, but because of something else, something that he had
forgotten, something that he had put out of his mind and out of his
life. Could it be possible that--

He caught himself. In that direction lay madness. Words exploded out of
him. "Hey, what the hell? Am I nuts? What became of that island? I saw
it!"

"I told you we had to hurry to get there when we saw it." Retch was
hesitant. "It's--it's not always there."

"But it's got to be there! I saw it!"

"There is a trick about that island," Retch said. "I--it--I--you don't
always see it. Something funny."

Parker was across the shaking, unsteady raft. His impulse was to take
Retch by the throat, to shake words out of him. "What do you mean?" He
was restraining himself with difficulty.

Retch spread his hands. "I'm sorry, I can't explain. That's all I know.
Believe me."

Retch was telling the truth Parker decided. The big pilot swung his gaze
in every direction, searching for land. Somewhere in the far distance
was the peninsula of Lower California. But it was beyond range of his
eyes. As far as he could see, was barren water.

Setting his course by the small compass that was included as part of the
standard equipment on the life raft, Parker paddled toward the south.
The clumsy raft made little progress. Parker hardly noticed, hardly
cared. Deep in his mind was a lurking thought he was trying to ke