Wilbur had sunk beside the rail. The sampan fell
off, carried high on the wave.
"Then, in a moment like the coming of death, we plunged into the reef. I
have no knowledge of what took place--and there are no words to tell the
story. Solid water swamped us; the thunder of the surf stopped the mind.
But we didn't touch, there was a way through, we had crossed the outer
margin of the reef. We ran the terrible gauntlet of the reef, surrounded
on every hand by towering breakers, lost in the appalling roar of the
elements. Without warning, we were flung between a pair of jagged ledges
and launched bodily on the surface of a concealed lagoon.
"A low rocky island lay in the center of the nest of reefs, with a
stretch of open water to leeward of it, all completely hidden from view
until that moment. The open water ran for perhaps a couple of miles;
beyond it the surf began again in another unbroken line. It would take
us ten minutes to cross the lagoon.
"'Bring Captain Wilbur,' said Lee Fu.
"I crept forward, where Wilbur lay beside the rail, his arm around a
stanchion. He was moaning to himself as if he'd been injured. I kicked
him roughly; he lifted an ashen face.
"'Come aft--you're wanted,' I cried.
"He followed like a dog. Lee Fu, at the tiller, beckoned us to stand
beside him; I pulled Wilbur up by the slack of his coat, and pinned him
against the cross-rail.
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