Whence came he?
What disaster had laid him here helpless before them?
As if their questions penetrated his consciousness, the stranger slowly opened his eyes.
"Sorry to come here like this," he murmured. "The fog was so thick, I lost my bearings and my power-boat ran aground. I've been trying hours to get her off. She's hard and fast on your sand-bar."
"Not on the ocean side?" Marcia exclaimed.
The man shook his head.
"Luckily not. I rounded the point all right, but missed the channel."
He struggled to rise and Marcia, kneeling beside him, helped him into an upright position where he sat, leaning against her shoulder.
"I seem to have brought in about half the sea with me," he apologized, looking about in vague, half-dazed fashion.
"No matter. We're used to salt water here," she answered. "How do you feel? You're not hurt?"