ALBACORA 139 



skillful control. The WaWa moved carefully among the 

 currents, then shot ahead and disappeared. Walt and 

 Mario were inside a cave. 



"What do you think?" Howard asked no one in par- 

 ticular. 



"I think I shouldn't have bothered about those pic- 

 tures," Lou said. 



"I think they'll get some baby penguins if they can 

 handle the mothers," Rivas said. "Walt certainly can 

 handle that boat." 



All of us stared beyond the whitened rocks into the 

 archways of the caves. The sun was lowering behind us 

 and sometimes I thought I saw strange small shapes 

 move about within the caves. It was unreal. When I 

 lifted my eyes, there stood the Andes, harsh and omi- 

 nous in the distance. 



Lou spotted the WaWa first. "They're heading for the 

 break," he said. "They're coming through okay." Then 

 I saw the little boat, too. Mario was at the stern, work- 

 ing the engine. Walt sat up front, holding two fuzzy 

 birds with one hand and holding his nose with the other. 



"He's clowning," I said. "They haven't come through 

 the rocks yet and Walt is clowning." 



"Don't bet on it," Lou remarked. 



For several moments Mario waited for a slack, a 

 calm between the breakers. When the moment came he 

 gunned the motor and the WaWa came through. Soon 

 Walt was climbing aboard the Explorer, holding the 



