It smote the air with a sound that was all the more insistent in that it was wholly unexpected. It drove into the sea, with a loud splash, a seal close at hand which had been hidden by a rock, and even brought a pair of circling bustards from some eyrie high up on the hills.
With never a word to one another, both men began to run.
CHAPTER XIII
THE SECOND SHIPWRECK
A series of reefs does not supply the best of surfaces for a sprint. Maseden slipped on a bed of seaweed and fell headlong, fortunately escaping injury. Sturgess, lighter, perhaps more adroit on his feet—it came out subsequently that he was an accomplished skater—stumbled several times, but contrived to keep going.
Thus he was the first to reach Madge Forbes, who hurried to meet them, followed by Nina, the latter walking more leisurely and carrying the rifle.
“What has happened?” gasped Sturgess. He saw that the girl was pale and frightened. She and her sister were continually looking backward, as though expecting to find they were being pursued.
“I think—it is all right—now,” she said brokenly. “Nina shot at it—the most awful monster I have ever seen.”