A slight haze partly obscured the moon when it rose, but there was far too much light to please Dave and Tempest, who would have liked a coal-black night for such work as they had on hand. Trusting to memory to avoid the dangerous patch of rocks through which they had threaded their way earlier in the day, they made a wide detour, and then headed straight for the surf. The thunderous roar of it reached them when they were still a quarter of a mile off. “That sounds lively, doesn’t it!” Dave commented. “There’s no earthly hope of making the beach in that without smashing the _Nautilus_ up and probably ourselves too.” “Jim,” said Tempest, “you can see like a cat in the dark. Can you tell us how we’re going to get ashore?” The Kanaka shook his head. That was a problem beyond him. “Maybe p’raps there’s a li’le cove somewhere along here,” he suggested. “Try bit furth’r down.” “All right,” said Tempest. “It’s rocky along here, and we can’t see where we are going, so don’t be surprised if we have to swim for it all of a sudden.” More by good fortune than by good management they escaped piling the boat up, and, sure enough, Jim piloted them to a sheltered cove. “’Pon my word, I believe we’ve caught him napping, Dave,” Tempest said as they approached the beach. “There’s no sign of anybody,” agreed the boy, eagerly scanning the shore. They were within fifty yards――forty――thirty. Crack! A little spurt of light flashed out and a bullet sang its way over their heads. Tempest ground his teeth. Had he been alone he would have made a dash for it. Reluctantly he put the helm over and swung the boat away again. “That is one extra thump in the ribs he will get from me when we do meet,” he said bitterly. “Hang me if I know what we are going to do now! We can’t mess about like this indefinitely.” “He certainly has got us in a corner,” said the boy. “It is a corner we have got to wriggle out of, somehow,” observed Tempest. “I think I’ve got a scheme that will work, though. It seems to me the only way. Desperate situations demand desperate measures. Dave, I want you to stop in the _Nautilus_ whatever happens until I tell you to come ashore. I’m going to swim to the beach.” “And what then?” “I’ll deal with Flagg once I get on dry land with him. We’ll go round to the lagoon, where the wreck is. That is the best place.” “But he’ll shoot you the moment he sets eyes on you.” “He’ll probably try to, but I’m going to take the risk. I may be able to take him off his guard.” “Um rain pretty soon, pretty hard,” said the Kanaka, sniffing the air as they ran round to the lagoon. Clouds were already gathering. “Tempest, let’s wait a while and see exactly what is going to happen. I’ve got an idea that we might be able to land after all, without your running an almost certain chance of getting hit with a bullet.” A few heavy drops were beginning to fall, and the light was failing.