for the strange act might be, now was the time to save the merchantman.

"We can turn off to one side!" he gasped, "and lose her!"

And with a bound he started for the pilot house.

"Hard a-port!" he shouted to the man at the wheel.

But before the man had a chance to obey Clif chanced to glance out
ahead, into the darkness toward which the vessel was blindly rushing.

And the cadet staggered back with a gasp.

"A light!" he cried. "A light!"

Yes, there was a dim flickering point of light directly in front of
them. Where it came from Clif could not tell, but he realized the
significance in an instant.

And at the same time there was another sound that broke upon his ear and
confirmed the guess. It was a dull, booming roar.

The man at the wheel heard it, too.

"It's breakers, sir!" he shouted. "Breakers ahead!"

They were nearing the land!

And then the significance of the Spaniard's act became only too
apparent. The men who were running her had seen the light, and they had
no idea of being led to destruction by their eagerness to follow that
reckless merchantman.

And so they were slowing up and keeping off the shore.

There was a faint hope in that; the Maria might be able to steal away if
she were quick enough in turning.

Clif's order had been obeyed by the sailor the instant he heard it. Clif
sprang in to help him, and they whirled the wheel around with all their
might.

But alas! they were too late! When a steamer waits until she hears
breakers in a storm like that it is all up with her, for she must be
near the shore indeed.

And plunging as the Maria was, urged on by wind and waves and her own
powerful engines, it was but an instant before the crisis came.

Clif had half braced himself for the shock; but when it came it was far
greater than he had expected. There was a crash that was simply
deafening. The huge ship plunged into the rocky shore with a force that
almost doubled her up, and made her shake from stem to stern. And she
stopped so abruptly that Clif was flung through the window of the pilot
house.

The deed was done!

CHAPTER VIII.

A DASH FOR THE SHORE.

Strange to say, Clif was not much excited at the terrific moment. The
peril was so great that he was quite gay as he faced it. He had risen to
the occasion.

He picked himself up and stepped out to the deck.

There he found a scene of confusion indescribable. Above the noise of
the breakers on the shore and the