position during the
night, drenched by rain and spray, seeing nothing, hearing no word. The
gale roared above us with that peculiar tearing sound that accompanies
the body of a typhoon; a sound suggestive of unearthly anger and
violence, as if elemental forces were ripping up the envelope of the
universe. The wind gained steadily in volume; it picked up the sea in
steep ridges of solid water that flung us like a chip from crest to
crest, or caught us, burst above us and swallowed us whole, as if we had
suddenly sunk in a deep well. Every moment I expected would be our last.
Yet, as time wore on, I felt through the sampan's frantic floundering a
hand of guidance, a touch of mastery. Lee Fu steered, and she was still
in his control. A night to turn the hair gray, to shatter the mind.

"But we came through, and saw the dawn. A pale watery light little by
little crept into the east, disclosing a scene of terror beyond
description. The face of the sea was livid with flying yellow foam; the
torn sky hung closely over it like the fringe of a mighty waterfall. In
the midst of this churning cauldron our little craft seemed momently on
the point of disappearing, engulfed by the wrath of the elements.

"In the lull of the storm my glance encountered Wilbur; for a long while
I'd forgotten him entirely. He hung to the rail a little farther
forward, gazing across the maelstrom with a fixed, exhausted expression.
His face was haggard; the strain of the night had marked him with a
ruthless hand. As I watched him, his eye turned slowly in my direction;
he gave me an anxious look, then crawled along the rail to a place by my
side.

"'Nichols, we're lost!' I heard him cry in my ear. The voice was almost
plaintive; it suddenly made me angry, revived a few sparks of my own
courage.

"'What of it?' I cried harshly. 'Turner was lost.'

"'You believe that, too?'

"I looked at him point-blank; his eyes shifted; he couldn't face me now.
'Yes, I do,' I told him. 'Why don't you own up, before--?'

"He moved away hastily, as if offended to the heart. But the strong man
had gone, the air of perfect confidence had disappeared; he was
shattered and spent--but not yet broken. Pride is more tenacious than
courage; and men with hearts of water will continue to function through
self-esteem.

"Looking above his head, where the sky and the sea met in a blanket of
flying spume, I caught sight for an instant of something that resembled
the vague for