"INAGUA IS A QUEER LITTLE ISLAND" 63 



piling higher and higher, adding to their bulk, until in the 

 gathering murk we could see the fitful brilliance of sheet light- 

 ning. I suggested to Daxon that we haul up on shore for the 

 night lest we be caught in the gathering storm. He gravely in- 

 dicated the barely visible line of barrier reef on which the 

 surf crashed and thundered in measured cadence. In an un- 

 broken line it extended to the west, curving and bending, but 

 not showing a single opening. The nearest entrance he in- 

 formed us was at Sheep Cay, three miles away. There if the tide 

 was not too low we might find a safe anchorage. 



Anxiously we watched the clouds, saw them gather in vol- 

 ume and spread over the horizon. Soon the sound of thunder 

 came across the water, rolling and echoing, diminishing and 

 breaking out again. Presently in the flare of sheet lightning we 

 made out the low form of Sheep Cay, a small island lying close 

 to the mainland. The barrier reef swept up to the edge of the 

 cay, there terminated and continued on again on the far side. 

 Try as we might we could not see any evidence of a channel. 

 Daxon, however, seemed to know what he was doing and 

 headed straight for the reef. For long moments we could see 

 nothing, then in a glare of brilliance we could distinguish the 

 long line of swells mounting up and up and then pouring over 

 the coral in a halo of mist and spray. 



"I hope this chap knows where he is going," whispered Cole- 

 man, "I've had enough coral for one week." 



Closer and closer we drifted, dipping sHghtly on the swells, 

 mounting to their crests and dipping on again. Rain began to 

 patter with a singing sound as it hit the water and a chill breeze 

 sprang and then died as quickly as it came. By the next flash we 

 saw we were no more than fifty feet from the reef. Still we 

 could see no channel but Daxon kept on straight for the beach. 

 Once he swerved the tiller slightly and in the brief flash that 

 followed I saw that he was lining up his bow with the edge of 



