in their direction. But I was not prepared for the force of 

 the tide, which immediately seized me and carried me 

 feet first toward the stem of the boat. I swam against it 

 with every bit of strength I could muster, for the surprise 

 attack had carried me well aft of the ladder and there was 

 nothing within reach to hang on to. I succeeded only in 

 preventing myself from being swept farther astern. 



Ed, who, I now realized, had attached himself to the 

 windlass to brace himself against the surge, saw my pre- 

 dicament and allowed the current to carry him my way. I 

 grabbed at his air hose and clung to it, still kicking wildly 

 with my flippers, as he towed me to where I could get a 

 purchase on the windlass. I hung on for dear life, breathing 

 heavily, and consequently adding to that stifling feeling 

 which seems to accompany extreme effort or emotion un- 

 derwater. 



How was it, I stormed to myself, that everyone else 

 was able to handle himself without difiBculty, whereas, 

 had it not been for Ed's assistance, I would have been 

 swept away with the tide? Of course there was the com- 

 forting thought that my air hose would have brought me 

 up short when I reached the end of it. Had I been wearing 

 self-contained equipment, however, I might now be strug- 

 gling helplessly against the tide, far out at sea. There was 

 still a lot I had to learn about this underwater swimming, I 

 decided. 



I was far from enjoying that interval. I stayed close 

 beside the windlass while Jane and Barney took tm-ns div- 

 ing down with their cameras to photograph the Link fam- 

 ily underwater. Now and then I ventured a quick foray to 

 some other piece of wreckage to which I could chng. When 

 I saw the pictures later, I was surprised at the ease with 

 which I appeared to be handling myself, one arm out- 

 stretched with careless grace as if I were examining some- 

 thing on the face of the wreckage. Such is the effect of a 



The Bahama Islands 113 



