d by the benumbed faculties,
and afterwards painfully sorted out by the memory. Fear, anguish,
amazement--none of these could exist. All he knew was that the lifeless
form of a woman--for Iris had happily fainted--must be held until death
itself wrenched her from him. Then there came the headlong plunge into
the swirling sea, followed by an indefinite period of gasping oblivion.
Something that felt like a moving rock rose up beneath his feet. He was
driven clear out of the water and seemed to recognize a familiar object
rising rigid and bright close at hand. It was the binnacle pillar,
screwed to a portion of the deck which came away from the charthouse
and was rent from the upper framework by contact with the reef.

He seized this unlooked-for support with his disengaged hand. For one
fleet instant he had a confused vision of the destruction of the ship.
Both the fore and aft portions were burst asunder by the force of
compressed air. Wreckage and human forms were tossing about foolishly.
The sea pounded upon the opposing rocks with the noise of ten thousand
mighty steam-hammers.

A uniformed figure--he thought it was the captain--stretched out an
unavailing arm to clasp the queer raft which supported the sailor and
the girl. But a jealous wave rose under the platform with devilish
energy and turned it completely over, hurling the man with his
inanimate burthen into the depths. He rose, fighting madly for his
life. Now surely he was doomed! But again, as if human existence
depended on naught more serious than the spinning of a coin, his knees
rested on the same few staunch timbers, now the ceiling of the
music-room, and he was given a brief respite. His greatest difficulty
was to get his breath, so dense was the spray through which he was
driven. Even in that terrible moment he kept his senses. The girl,
utterly unconscious, showed by the convulsive heaving of her breast
that she was choking. With a wild effort he swung her head round to
shield her from the flying scud with his own form.

The tiny air-space thus provided gave her some relief, and in that
instant the sailor seemed to recognize her. He was not remotely capable
of a definite idea. Just as he vaguely realized the identity of the
woman in his arms the unsteady support on which he rested toppled over.
Again he renewed the unequal contest. A strong resolute man and a
typhoon sea wrestled for supremacy.

This time his feet plunged against something gratefu