concentration on his task. The
strange thing was, he did not think much about Barbara, although he was
vaguely conscious that, for her sake, he must hold out. He meant to hold
out. Perhaps his talents were not numerous, but he could handle engines,
and when it was necessary he could keep awake.

At length, Learmont called him one morning to the bridge, and he leaned
slackly against the rails. His eyes were dull, and for some hours he had
breathed the fumes of burning tallow. A slide had given him trouble; he
could keep the metal cool. On the bridge, however, the air was keen and
sweet, and he felt the contrast. _Terrier_ plunged and threw the spray
about, but the seas were short, as if something ahead broke the wind. By
and by Learmont indicated a lofty bank of mist.

"Teneriffe!" he said. "I was half-asleep when I took the sun, but my
reckoning was not very far out."

Lister looked up. In the distance a sharp white cone, rising from fleecy
vapor, cut the sky, and Lister, with dull satisfaction, knew the famous
peak. Nearer the tug was another bank of mist, that looked strangely
solid but ragged, as if it were wrapped about something with a broken
outline. Some minutes afterwards a high, dark object like a
mountain-top, loomed in the haze.

"Grand Canary!" Learmont remarked. "The range behind Las Palmas town. I
expect the smudge ahead is the Isleta hill."

"We've made it!" Lister said hoarsely, and braced himself. Now the
strain was gone, he felt very slack.

The sun rose out of the water, the mist began to melt, and rolling back,
uncovered a line of surf and a belt of rough hillside. Then volcanic
cliffs, a sandy isthmus, and a cluster of masts and funnels got
distinct, and Lister fixed the glasses on a white stripe across a cinder
hill. His hand shook, but he steadied the glasses and saw the stripe was
a row of huge letters.

"... _ary Engineering Co_ ..." he read.

His heart beat when he went below. Luck had given him a hard job, but he
had put it across. Soon after _Terrier_ arrived he went to the
engineering company's office and the manager looked at him curiously.
Then he gave Lister some wine and, after studying his drawings and
patterns, said he could make the things required. Lister drove to the
town, and going to a Spanish barber's, started when he saw his
reflection in a glass. He had not shaved for long, and fresh water was
scarce on board the tug. His face was haggard, the engine grime had got
in