ce limp, unconscious, half drowned at his side. He felt
he was unable to stay afloat much longer. His left arm was already numb
from the girl's dead weight. Every muscle in his body ached. The end
must soon come. Why not let her go now and have done with it?

Suddenly he heard a sound that gave him renewed energy. It was the
roaring noise of heavy surf beating on the shore. They must be close in
land. Another determined effort and perhaps he could get in. Desperately
exerting the last of his great strength, he swam on. A monster wave
carried him forward, high on its crest, and as the water retired he felt
sand underneath his feet. Another billow carried them in still farther.
He was in a maelstrom; he could not see; there was a rushing, roaring
sound in his ears. A wave knocked him down, and they were both nearly
suffocated as they rolled over and over in the boiling water. He
staggered to his feet and was again dragging her in when a receding wave
snatched them back. Then came another and bigger wave which threw them
in again. This time he dug his feet desperately in the shifting sand,
and, by a herculean effort, resisted the deadly suck of the undertow.
The wave receded, leaving them still higher. Before another could reach
them he had picked his unconscious companion up in his arms, and
staggered up the beach safe out of the clutch of the water.

CHAPTER IX.

Dawn broke, gray and wet. Although the storm had spent its fury and the
wind had quieted down to a gentle breeze, the sea still ran mountains
high and a fine rain was falling. But there was promise of clearing
weather. Low on the eastern horizon a fringe of fiery red broke through
the leaden clouds, putting in relief the water-line and heralding the
near approach of sunrise. Away out yonder, far beyond the towering,
white-capped breakers, protruded the jagged points of the treacherous
sunken reef on which the ill-fated _Atlanta_ had crashed to her doom.

Armitage strained his eyes in every direction until they ached. With the
coming of daylight he had expected to get a glimpse of the wreck;
possibly he would see people still on board, signaling for help. But as
the darkness paled and he was able to distinguish water and sky through
the receding gloom, he saw, to his amazement, that the steamer had
completely disappeared. He perceived pieces of wreckage, and, near the
reef, he thought he spied an upturned boat, but of the big steamer and
the other life