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146 ment," he said. "There's no danger of our being swamped, though—yet."

"Thank you," Joan answered simply; and she relapsed into silence.

Keith's attention was fully taken up with the task of keeping the craft head on to the seas. Now he only obtained occasional glimpses of the island of Tamba. The blacks were almost rowed out.

"I'm sorry," Keith said at length, "but we're dropping further to the east. Niggers are poor creatures to depend on when it comes to physical strength. We'd have been ashore by now if these fellows had been white. If we keep afloat and this goes on all night we shall be in a bad fix. You see, there's no compass aboard, and the Pacific is a pretty big place."

"Then you don't think there is any hope for us?" the girl asked, with a look of deep concern.

"I won't say that till she sinks," replied the man from the Four Winds, grimly.

Suddenly the violent wind eased up. For two full minutes there was a dead calm, and then a gust of wind blew from the other direction.

Keith's heart gave a leap; as yet he dared not think of it as anything but a playful prank of the gale. But now there came a steady pressure directly from the east.

"Washee, washee!" the man cried exultantly. "Pull, you lazy black scum! Put some beef into