said Robin with enthusiasm, his eyes glistening with
delight as he gazed on the angry ocean.

There was no thought of danger in the mind of any one at that moment. A
good ship, ably commanded, well manned, and with plenty of sea-room,--
what more could be desired? Nevertheless, deadly peril was close at
hand.

That marvellous little creature--which, in the southern seas, builds its
little cell, works its little day and dies, leaving to succeeding
generations of its kind to build their little cells and die, each using
its predecessor's mansion as a foundation for its own, until pile on
pile forms a mass, and mass on mass makes a mountain--the coral insect,
had reared one of its submarine edifices just where the cable-ship
Triton had to pass that day. For ages man had traversed that sea
without passing exactly over that mountain, and even if he had, it would
not have mattered, for the mountain had been always many fathoms below
the surface. But now the decree had gone forth. The conjunction of
events predestined had come about. The distance between the mountain
summit and the ocean surface had been reduced to feet. The Triton rose
on the top of a mighty billow as she reached the fated spot. The coral
peak rose near the bottom of the water-hollow beyond, and down on it the
doomed ship went with an awful crash!

Her speed was checked only an instant, for the top of the rock was
knocked off by the force of the blow, and the ship passed swiftly on,
but there could be no mistaking the significance of that shock. An
involuntary shout of alarm from some,--a gasp, halt of surprise, half of
horror, from others,--then a rush of active effort when the captain gave
orders to man the pumps.

There was urgent need for haste. The mass of coral rock had stuck in
the hole it had made, else had they gone down in a few minutes. As it
was, the water rushed in furiously, so much so that the captain detailed
a party of men to construct a raft, while the rest relieved each other
at the pumps. No doubt he was partly urged to this course by the
consideration that a vessel weighted with telegraph-cables and other
heavy material connected therewith could not float long in a leaky
condition.

"Keep close to me, Robin; we must sink or swim together."

It was Sam who spoke. He was very pale, but his firmly-compressed lips
showed no sign of unmanly fear. Robin, on the contrary, taken by
surprise, and too inexperienced to correctly