, and one of them, after being
rapidly unloaded, returned for the commander.

Before it regained the ship, Underhill felt a light puff of wind from
the south-west. Lifting a megaphone, he roared to the men to pull for
their lives. The boat came alongside; it had scarcely received its
load when the hurricane once more burst upon them, this time from the
opposite quarter. Underhill leapt down among his men, and ordered them
to give way. Before they had pulled a dozen strokes the storm was at
its height, but the force of the wind was now somewhat broken by the
trees and rocks of the island. Even so it was hard work, rowing in the
teeth of the blast, the boat being every moment in danger of swamping
by the tremendous seas. Underhill, at the tiller, set his teeth, and
anxiously watched the advancing cliffs, at the foot of which the
remainder of his company stood. The boat was within twenty yards of
them when a huge wave fell on it as it were out of the sky. It sank
like lead. Thanks to the lifebuoys Underhill and the men rose quickly
to the surface. Two of them, who could not swim, cried out
despairingly for help. Underhill seized one and held him up; the other
was saved by the promptitude of young Smith. Seeing their plight, he
caught up a rope which had been brought ashore, and flung it among the
group of men struggling in the water. The drowning man clutched it,
the others swam to it, and by its aid all were drawn ashore, gasping
for breath, and sorely battered by the jagged rocks.

"All safe, thank heaven!" said Underhill, as he joined the others;
"but I'm sorry we've lost the boat."

The shipwrecked party found themselves on a narrow beach, behind which
rose steep cliffs, rugged and difficult to climb. Against these they
crouched to find some shelter from the storm, and watch the gradual
dismemberment of the ill-fated _Albatross_. Wave after wave broke over
her, the spray dashing so high that even her funnel sometimes
disappeared from view. The spectators held their breath: could she
live out the storm? At last a tremendous sea swept her from the hollow
in which she was wedged, and she plunged beneath the waters.

CHAPTER I

THE CABLEGRAM

"Tenez! up! up! Ah ca! A clean shave, mister, hein?"

A touch on the lever had sent the aeroplane soaring aloft at a steep
angle, and she cleared by little more than a hair's breadth the edge
of a thick plantation of firs.

"A close shave, as you say, Roddy," cam