"Ease over the sheet, Dave," he shouted. "We're coming about on the starboard tack—quick!"
But the instant's delay had been fatal. Before the boat could respond to her helm, another furious blast sent her heeling over. This time, the tapering mast met the water; the boys shot out in all directions; then the "Speedy" turned bottom up, and, as if rejoicing at another victim, the current raced her swiftly along.
When they rose to the surface, the Ramblers, with one accord, struck out for the boat; each felt that to stem the force of wind and water was impossible. Numerous rocks studded the channel a bit further down, and their only hope seemed to lie in reaching one of these. At any rate, they had already gone so far that no effort at swimming could have saved them from the turbulent water below.
Clinging to the hull, they could only glance at each other with white faces—faces which reflected the terror that gripped their hearts.
By this time, dark, rolling clouds had blotted out the mountain tops, and seemed to be on the point of pouring earthward a flood of rain. Nature was, indeed, in a wild and threatening mood.
And now an ominous roar rose above the sound of wind and waves. Already the upturned boat was sweeping past the lower end of Promontory Island.
The cliffs lashed with perpetual foam were near at hand.
Like one in a dream, Sam Randall saw flashing into view the white rocks upon which he had stood only a short time before. Then, almost instantly, torn like the others from their hold on the "Speedy," he was battling for life in a seething vortex.
Exhausted by the pounding and almost blinded, he struggled desperately to keep his head above water and reach one of the rocks. But a short distance separated him from a haven of safety. He kept his eye fixed on a form over which the water pounded and lashed. A few feet more, and his hand would reach it.
At last, with the agony of despair, Sam Randall grasped hold of the projecting point. His fingers closed tightly around it, and for an instant it looked as if success would crown his effort.