CHAPTER XV
Men Missing
Biff stood on the beach calling out his friend’s name again and again. His voice shook with effort, trying to drown out the noises of surf and sea.
The wind was dying down slightly, but the surf was still too rough and dangerous for Biff to try to reach the boat, which stood one hundred feet off shore.
Biff’s eyes searched the beach, hoping to spot Li swimming ashore. No such welcome sight met his eyes.
To his left, about a quarter of a mile away, Biff could see a formation of lava rock jutting out into the sea. He thought his friend Li might have gotten to shore on the other side of the lava promontory.
Biff ran down the beach. His pounding heart sank when he reached the ugly, grayish-black rock, stretching out into the sea. Its side was smooth, rising upward some thirty feet. There was no place Biff could spot where he could gain a foothold to climb to its top.
Around the base of the lava cliff, the water dashed and swirled, making it impossible for Biff to swim around to the other side.
Biff went back to the spot on the beach directly opposite the Easy Action. He sank down on the wet sand, filled with despair. He felt certain now that his good friend Li must be lost in the ocean.
Night settled over a lonely, saddened Biff. The rain had stopped. The wind was dying down. The surf was losing some of its angry roar. Sleep, a sleep Biff felt he could never attain, finally came to the tired, worried boy. With it came release for his troubled mind.
By morning, the wind was gone. The sea was smooth, and the sky was blue over Hawaii once again.