e sea was rising fast. He would have given much
to have had his bosom friend and more than brother, Harry, in the boat
with him at that moment. He could always rely on Harry's coolness and
sound clear-headed advice, and he would have felt much less anxious had
his chum been with him then.

The man on shore was now seen to stagger to his feet and to support
himself with a stick, alternately pointing out to sea and beckoning them
on. But neither Roger nor the men with him now needed anyone to remind
them of the peril in which they stood.

They were nearing the beach now, but meanwhile the sea had been rising
with almost incredible rapidity. When they left the ship the sea had
been calm, with not even a ripple lapping the beach. There had been the
proverbial calm before the storm. But now, although the gale had not
yet reached the boat, the waves were leaping up the beach in foam, and
their back-wash gave forth a roar like that of distant thunder. Roger
yearned to look behind him again, to ascertain how far away the white
squall still was, but he dared not turn his head; all his nerve and
skill and courage were now needed to enable him to beach the boat
without capsizing her. One glance at the faces of the men pulling, who
of course were sitting looking aft in the direction from which the storm
was coming, was enough to convince him that it could not be by this time
very far distant. They were now within a few fathoms of the beach, and
Roger, for the first time, dared to hope that they would reach the shore
without any mishap, when he observed his two seamen redouble their
exertions, with a look of terror on their countenances, although they
were very nearly "gastados" as the Dons say, or used up, and the next
moment, with a fearful shriek, the white squall burst in all its fury
upon the unhappy trio. The boat seemed suddenly to take wings; she was
propelled with fearful velocity towards the beach; the spindrift
whistled about them and blinded them; the shriek and roar of the wind
deafened them, and its fearful force stunned them. The seamen were
blown bodily from the thwarts into the bottom of the boat; but Roger,
clinging desperately to the gunwale with one hand, and fiercely gripping
the tiller with the other, contrived to retain his seat, and strove to
pierce the dense mist of scud-water with his eyes, that he might see to
beach the boat safely. But he could perceive nothing, and the next
moment a wave des