rned, picked him up, and
hurried him on his way. When it started back again its force was too
much spent and the water was too shallow to have much effect on
Robert. He continued running through the yielding sand, and, when the
wave came in again and snatched at him, it was not able to touch his
feet.

He reached weeds, then bushes, and clutched them with both hands, lest
some wave higher and more daring than all the rest should yet come for
him and seize him. But, in a moment, he let them go, knowing that he
was safe, and laughing rather giddily, sank down in a faint.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MEETING

When Robert revived the wind was still blowing hard, although there
had been some decrease in its violence, and it was yet night. He was
wet and very cold, and, as he arose, he shivered in a chill. The
greatcoat was still wrapped about his body, and although it was soaked
he always believed, nevertheless, that in some measure it had
protected him while he slept. The pistols, the ammunition and the
sword were in his belt, and he believed that the ammunition, fastened
securely in a pouch, was dry, though he would look into that later.

He was quite sure that he had not been unconscious long, as the
appearance of the sky was unchanged. The bushes among which he had
lain were short but tough, and had run their roots down deeply into
the sand. They were friendly bushes. He remembered how glad he had
been to grasp them when he made that run from the surf, and to some
extent they had protected him from the cold wind when he lay among
them like one dead.

The big rollers, white at the top, were still thundering on the beach,
and directly in front of him he saw a lowering hulk, that of the
schooner. The slaver's wicked days were done, as every wave drove it
deeper into the sand, and before long it must break up. Robert felt
that it had been overtaken by retributive justice, and, despite the
chill that was shaking him, he was shaken also by a great thrill of
joy. Wet and cold and on a desolate shore, he was, nevertheless, free.

He began to run back and forth with great vigor, until he felt the
blood flowing in a warm, strong current through his veins again, and
he believed that in time his clothes would dry upon him. He took off
the greatcoat, and hung it upon the bushes where the wind would have a
fair chance at it, and he believed that in the morning it would be
dry, too. Then, finding his powder untouched by the wate