Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/100



HAT'S the land over there?" asked Nelson, nodding westward toward the low, faint line of shore.

"North Carolina," replied the tall youth whose sleeve bore the crossed quills of a yeoman. "That's Cape Hatteras, further along."

Nelson craned his neck. The shore-line stretched out as though to meet them, a distant angle of sand-reefs, slightly more distinct than the land abeam.

"Is it?" he asked interestedly. "I've heard of Hatteras."

"You're in luck only to have heard of it," grumbled the other. "Mostly you feel it! We're getting into it now. This is the roughest stretch between Cape Cod and the Florida Keys. You want to try it when there's a good off-shore gale if you want some real fun! This your first voyage?"

"My first in the Navy, except knocking around for a month or so on a patrol boat up north. I've 78