Steadily the gunboat drew nearer; the two half-drowned Americans were reached in a minute or two.
And the vessel slowed up and a rope was thrown to them. Clif desperate from despair, seized it and drew himself close.
A couple of Spanish sailors leaned down from the low side and lifted first the half unconscious girl and then the cadet up to the deck.
And then, weak and pale and dripping wet, they confronted a tall, ugly-looking Spaniard with an officer's chevrons.
He stared at them curiously.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
And Clif, grim with desperation, looked him in the eye and answered boldly:
"We are Americans," said he.
"Prisoners?"
"Yes."