"By pantomime, I called his attention to the shift of wind. Again he nodded—then ducked his head in Wilbur's direction, shouting something that I couldn't quite follow. '... Change our tactics ...' was what I understood him to say.
"What did he mean by that? My mind refused to function, save in channels of fantastic conjecture. I'd gained the impression that he was disappointed at the present turn of affairs. Had he depended on the centre of the typhoon for his climax? Good God, had he wanted it to catch us? As matters stood, it was only by the extreme grace of providence that we remained alive. Now, it seems, something had miscarried, we must change our tactics ... find some new horror to take the place of the one that had passed us by.
"He beckoned me to come closer; grasping the cross-rail, I swung down beside him.
"'I know our position' he cried in my ear 'Have no alarm, my friend. There are two large islands, and a third behind them, small like a button. Watch closely the button, while I steer. When it touches the high headland of the second larger island, give me the news instantly'
"He had hauled the junk a trifle to port as he spoke, and now with every opportunity began edging toward the land. Perilous business, in that tremendous seaway; but he executed the manoeuvre with infinite patience and caution, with consummate skill. Wilbur had now seen the land, had straightened his figure and leaned forward, watching it intently. Distances were veiled and distorted in that murky atmosphere; we were nearer to the headland than I had at first supposed. For perhaps twenty minutes we ran on, a tense new excitement tugging at our hearts. Then, as we raced before the gale, I felt the sea begin to grow calmer; glancing to windward, I saw on the horizon a fringe of spouting reefs, and realized that we'd entered the zone of their protection. The tall headland, which now revealed itself as the point of the second island, grew plainer with every moment; soon I made out the island like a button, and saw it closing rapidly on the land behind.
"'Now!' I shouted to Lee Fu, holding up both my arms, when the two points of land had touched.
"He swung the sampan a couple of points to starboard, discovering close beneath our bows the tip of another reef that stretched toward the land diagonally across the path of the wind. In a moment we were abreast this point of reef; a hundred yards away its spray lashed our decks, as the low-lying black rocks caught the broken wash of the storm. Another swing of the great tiller, and we had hauled up in the lee of the reef—in quiet water at last, but with the gale still screaming overhead like a defeated demon. We reached along this weather shore in a smother of spray, until we came abruptly to the little island. This we passed with a rush, and shot forward into a relatively smooth basin that lay under the protection of the high headland on the larger island.
"It was like nothing but a return from hell. The wind held us in a solid blast; but to feel the deck grow quiet, to be able to think, to speak, to hear ... to see the land close aboard.... By Jove, we were saved!—it seemed more incredible than the adventure itself. Heads began to bob up forward, faces drawn with terror, frantic with relief—the faces of men who had lost and found a world.
"A voice spoke gruffly beside us. 'By God, I hope you're satisfied!' We turned to see Wilbur standing at the head of the cross-rail. A twitching face belied the nonchalance that he'd attempted to throw into the words. It was a new phase of the man; his former perfect poise was stripped off like a mask, revealing an inner nature without force or quality, a common empty soul. The very assumption of coolness, a reflex of his over-powering relief, disclosed weakness instead of strength, impotence instead of authority.
"'I don't know how we managed to come through!' he snarled 'In the name of God, what made you try it? Nothing but luck—and now the typhoon's leaving us. We can haul up here until the wind goes down'