make some suggestion which Boreland dismissed with a gesture.

"Thanks, old man," he said, "but this is a job for all three of us,"
and he turned to join Ellen who was standing at the edge of the water.
"We'll be home in time for supper, El," he said, with forced
cheeriness. "Don't worry, now--mind!" And he patted her hand
reassuringly before he turned to the boat.

As she watched the craft slip away from the shore she conquered a wild
impulse to reach out and drag it back again. Shane and Harlan shoved
on their oars with long, slow strokes, as they faced the reefs that lay
between them and the open sea; Kayak Bill steered. Ellen watched them
move in and out between the protruding rocks. On the grey slope of the
sullen swells that rose and fell unbroken about them the raft in tow
shone wetly yellow. From time to time she caught glimpses of streaming
tangles of kelp which somehow suggested the floating hair of dead
women. . . .

The boat crept off-shore to get outside the most dangerous of the
reefs, and once free, Boreland, small now in the distance, looked back
to wave a hand at her. At last, having seen the craft swing and move
slowly southward on the home stretch round the Island, Ellen sighed
with relief, and turning away from the sea, started down the beach
toward the cabin.

Across the dark pall of the sky in the southwest clouds were beginning
to form in heaving sombre masses. A breeze, coming at first in
scarcely perceptible breaths, freshened almost in a moment, until the
glassy surface of the sea was wrinkled and streaked far out with black.
It was impossible to see the whaleboat now because of the barrier
reefs. Ellen's heart grew heavy with foreboding. The wind . . .
Remembering the tales of quick-rising wind and sea, she prayed that
these fitful puffs might not be the first breaths of a borning gale.

She found Jean and Loll on the beach below the house. They had felt
the danger of the coming storm and were looking out anxiously for a
first glimpse of the boat.

Only rearing waters and lowering sky bounded their vision.

The wind increased.

Silence grew upon them.

The cloud banks in the southwest separated into weird-shaped masses
which detached themselves and began to travel swift and low toward them
across the sky. Some menacing quality in this relentless, headlong
rush increased Ellen's fears, and in growing alarm she watched the tiny
white-caps that were beginning to form on th