oment of the vessel's final impact against the rocks. Even before the
three reached the ledge from which their rescuers were working, the
bridge and funnel were swept away, the foremast fell, the forehold and
forecastle were riotously flooded by the sea, and Watts, were he
capable of using his eyes, might have seen his deadly enemies, the
rats, swarming in hundreds to the tiny platform that still rose above
the destroying waves. Soon, even that frail ark was shattered. When
keel and garboard stroke plates snapped, all that was left of the
_Andromeda_ toppled over, and the cavern she had invaded rang with a
fierce note of triumph as the next wave thundered in without hindrance.

* * * * * *

It was, indeed, a new and strange world on which Iris looked when able
to breathe and see once more. During that terrible ascent she had
retained but slight consciousness of her surroundings. She knew that
Hozier and herself were drawn close to a bulging rock, that her
companion clutched at it with hands and knees, and thus fended her
delicate limbs from off its broken surface; she felt herself half
carried, half lifted, up into free air and dazzling light; she heard
voices in a musical foreign tongue uttering words that had the ring of
sympathy. And that was all for a little while. Friendly hands placed
her in a warm and sunlit cleft, and she lay there, unable to think or
move. By degrees, the numbness of body and mind gave way to clearer
impressions. But she took much for granted. For instance, it did not
seem an unreasonable thing that the familiar faces of men from the
_Andromeda_ should gather near her on an uneven shelf of rock strewn
with broken bolders and the litter of sea-birds. She recognized them
vaguely, and their presence brought a new confidence. They increased
in number; sailor-like, they began to take part instantly in the work
of rescue; but she wondered dully why Hozier did not come to her, nor
did she understand that he had gone back to that raging inferno beneath
until she saw his blood-stained face appear over the lip of the
precipice.

Then she screamed wildly: "Thank God! Oh, thank God!" and staggered to
her feet in the frantic desire to help in unfastening the ropes that
bound him to the insensible Watts. One of the men tried to persuade
her to sit down again, but she would not be denied. Her unaccustomed
fingers strove vainly against the stiff strands, swollen