COASTING ALASKA PENINSULA 191 



cies were for once brought to nothing. In fact the 

 trouble began ahnost as soon as he had uttered this 

 boast. 



By six o'clock that night we were abeam of the 

 Barren Islands and had them, as we thought, safely under 

 our lee. We were making steady progress toward our 

 destination. As the evening went on the sky became 

 overcast, the air grew thick and hazy and an hour before 

 midnight the wind hauled to the southeast and began to 

 blow hard. All through the night wind and sea increased. 

 The haze thickened, the wild spindrift, blown by the fmy 

 of the gale, rose from the fleecy crests of the billows and 

 filled the whole air. It was impossible to see more than 

 four hundred yards. Staunchly the ''Abler" battled 

 against the raging elements. All night she heaved and 

 plunged, wallo^dng in the angry sea. The captain had 

 long since put her about and instead of trying to brave 

 his way toward Seward was nmning back toward Afognak 

 Island, holding as closely to the wind as possible and forc- 

 ing the motor to its highest speed. All night long we 

 could sense the struggle, between the fitful snatches of 

 sleep that the tossing vessel allowed us. It was clear to 

 every one on board that we were in a bad position with 

 the Barren Islands and the half-sunken rocks off Afognak 

 under our lee. 



We turned out to breakfast and found only Larsson, 

 Ed Born and Kleinschmidt in the saloon. A few cold 

 dishes were on the table. Nothing was prepared by the 

 cook. He was panic-stricken and had quit completely. 



"Well, captain," we asked cheerily, "where are we 

 now?" 



"We're about three miles to windward of Sea Lion 

 Rocks, trying to keep her off them," answered the captain 



