As he steered, he seemed to be
watching intently for landmarks. Was it possible that he still knew his
bearings, that there was a way through?
"Wilbur, at Lee Fu's command, had left us without a word. He stood at
the rail, supporting himself by main strength, facing the frightful line
of the approaching reefs; and on his back was written the desperate
struggle he was having. It bent and twisted, sagging with sudden
irresolution, writhing with stubborn obduracy, straightening and shaking
itself at times in a wave of firmness and confidence, only to quail once
more before the sight that met his eyes. He couldn't believe that Lee Fu
would hold the course. 'Only another moment!' he kept crying to himself.
'Hold on a little longer!' Yet his will had been sapped by the long
hours of the night and the terror of the dawn; and courage, which with
him had rested only on the sands of ostentation, had crumbled long ago.
"I turned away, overcome by a sickening sensation; I couldn't look
longer. Lee Fu waited tensely, peering ahead and to windward with
lightning glances. A wave caught us, flung us forward. Suddenly I heard
him cry out at my side in exultation as he bore down on the tiller. The
cry was echoed from forward by a loud scream that shot like an arrow
through the thunder.
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