Page:Barbour--Lost island.djvu/218



APTAIN PETERS went below to inspect the damage. His face looked troubled when he returned.

"She's piled up on top of high water," he said, "and I'm afraid she 'll stay there. It's a lucky thing the sea is dead calm."

About an hour too late a gentle breeze sprang up, brushing away the veil of mist and revealing their position to the Manihiki's crew.

The reef on which she had struck was submerged at all states of the tide, leaving nothing to disclose its existence but the dark color of the water, which the mist had hidden. Half a mile away on the starboard bow lay the island which the skipper had wanted to take his bearings from. Even at that distance it presented a beautiful