e
peril.

And Clif was not mistaken. The man set hastily to work releasing his
comrades, and in less time than it takes to tell it the terrified men
were huddled together on the deck.

The cadet wasted no more time upon them.

"There are three boats left for you," he cried. "Save yourselves."

And with that he turned and made his way down to where his own men were
struggling with one of the small boats.

There was one other thing which in the wild confusion of that moment
Clif managed to remember needed to be attended to. There was Ignacio!

The treacherous Spaniard had nearly been swept off, and he was half
drowned by the floods of water that poured over the deck. But his hatred
of the Americans was too great for him to shout to them for aid.

What to do with that murderous villain was a problem that worried Clif.
Undoubtedly the wisest thing would be to kill him, then and there; death
was the fate he certainly deserved.

And Clif half drew his sword; but it was no use. He could not bring
himself to do such an act. And he flung the weapon back into the
scabbard.

To attempt to carry him away was equally useless; the Americans did not
expect to reach the shore themselves.

"I'll leave him to his fate," Clif muttered. "The Spaniards may help him
if they choose."

And with that he turned toward the sailors again; the men had by that
time nearly succeeded in getting the boat away. They were working like
Trojans.

Every wave that struck the ship helped to fill the boat, even before it
touched the water; the spray poured down over the slanting deck upon it
and the sailors had to empty it several times.

While they were wrestling thus the wind and water and rocks had been
getting in their work upon the doomed vessel. Lower and lower she sank,
harder and harder she pounded.

And then suddenly a great billow heaved itself with a thud against the
bow and fairly hammered it around. One of the sailors gave a yell.

"She's split!"

And sure enough, a great seam had opened amidships and the water surged
in with a roar.

The vessel seemed fairly falling to pieces.

And such being the case the sailors had no time to delay. The frail boat
was lowered into the seething waters; the men tumbled in and seized the
oars. Clif made a wild leap and caught the stern just as one mighty wave
raced by and whirled the boat away from the vessel.

And in one instant it was lost to sight and sound. What was done by the
Spania