“I don’t see how the danger could possibly be greater, and yet,� I added, “I think we shall win through if you will sit perfectly quiet and trust to me.�
“I will do whatever you tell me,� she said, with a most becoming and unusual meekness. “I think—I know—I trust you entirely, Master Hampdon.�
“Very well,� said I quietly, “and now may God help us.�
Fortunately, the tide was making toward the shore of the island. I selected a spot where the huge, rolling waves seemed to break more smoothly than elsewhere, which argued a greater depth of water over the barrier, less roughness, and fewer possibilities of being wrecked on the jagged points of the coral reef. Dousing the sail, unshipping the tiller and rudder, and pulling the oars with all my strength, after an unuttered prayer, I shot the boat directly toward the spot I had chosen. Just before I reached it, I threw the oars inboard, seized one of them which I wished to use as a steering oar and stepped aft past my lady, who sat a little forward and well down in the bottom of the boat. I braced myself in the stern sheets and waited. We were racing toward that reef with dizzy speed rising with the uplift of the wave. I had just time for one sentence.
“If we die,� I shouted, “remember that I have been your true servant always.�
She nodded her head, her eyes glistening, and then I turned to the business in hand. A huge roller overtook us. The little boat rose and rose and rose with a giddy, furious motion. Suddenly it began to turn. If it went broadside to the reef and a wave caught it or one broke over it, we should be lost; but I had foreseen the danger. I threw out my oar and with every pound of strength in arm, leg, and body, I thrust blindly, desperately against the heave of the sea.
It was an unequal combat, a man against the Pacific Ocean. I could not have maintained it for long. Yet the few seconds seemed hours. The strain was terrific, of all the tasks I ever attempted that taxed my strength the most—save one, as you shall see. If the oar broke we should be lost. It bent and buckled but held like the good honest piece of English ash that it was. Sweat poured from me, my heart throbbed, my pulses beat, my head rang. It was not in human power to continue. I was about to give way and let go all when I cast one glance at my mistress. I saw her pale face, her bright eyes staring into mine. My strength then was about gone, but that look of appeal, entreaty, and confidence nerved me for one last supreme effort.
There are not many men with as little experience in that sort of work as I had enjoyed who could have done what I did, for I held the boat steady, her bows fairly and squarely pointed to the reef in spite of the thrust of the ocean, and I thought triumphantly that I was going to make it safely in spite of all. I reckoned without my host, however. The wave we were riding broke just as we reached the top. We sank down into what seemed a valley of water, the breakers roared in our ears, the spray fell over us like rain. We sank lower and lower, there was a sound of grinding along the keel. We had struck the coral evidently. The boat stopped a moment, motionless.
Unshipping my oar, I thrust it violently at the reef. The blade caught in the coral. I put all my weight against it. The water rose, the trough of the sea into which we had fallen suddenly filled. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes and thrust again. The boat lifted a little, moved a little, the keel grating along the reef. I heard a scream faintly and opened my eyes. I caught a fleeting glimpse of my lady’s face, but could give her no attention. I struggled desperately to drag the oar free. The coral rock into which I had jammed it held the blade like a vise. The boat rose and moved faster. The oar was wrenched from my hands. The inrushing wave and the moving boat passing reef together, the great sea finally broke upon us.
We were over, but the wall of water struck the boat, now broached to, full on the beam. She was lifted up, whirled over and swept inward. The mountainous sea struck me on the back and side, knocking the breath out of me and fairly hurling me clear of the boat so that I fell into the boiling water alongside. My lady had half risen as the boat swung broadside to the sea and she was also swept into the water. If she had remained crouched down she would have fallen under it and probably would have been killed.