Usually the mist melted and disappeared soon after the sun peeked over the horizon, but this morning it hung obstinately and grew thicker, looking like a vast curtain of down spread over the water. Before midday the captain slowed the engines again, and crept forward for several hours. As near as he could reckon, they were within a mile or two of an island marked on the chart, which he wished to see so that he could make doubly sure of his bearings. Dave was below, in his bunk, fast asleep, when a peculiar, grating noise startled him. “What’s that?” he said, rubbing his eyes. Again the grating, accompanied this time by a distinct bump. “The old man’s done it now!” a sailor exclaimed, jumping out of his berth and hastening into some clothes. “Bless my soul if he ain’t tryin’ to scrape seaweed off’n the rocks with the keel!” Dave was on deck in less than sixty seconds. The engines were stationary, and the captain was barking out sharp orders. Instead of rising and falling gently, the _Manihiki_ was firm as a rock at the bow and canting over slightly, while her stern hung a foot too low in the water. “Some plates are stove in for’ard, sir,” Dave heard a voice shout, “and the sea’s coming in through a big hole!” Four or five gulls hung gracefully overhead, as though waiting for the pickings. Dave saw Tempest coming toward him. “Shall we be able to back off, do you think?” the boy asked. “I hope not,” said Tempest. “If she slips off that rock, she’ll sink in about three minutes.” CHAPTER XIII WHEREIN TEMPEST STAYS BEHIND Captain 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 sight, lying low like a vast, half-submerged emerald. At its highest point it did not seem to rise much more than fifty feet out of the water, and the slope down to the sea was covered with tropical growth. As the tide went down, the slope on the steamer’s deck became more apparent, and Captain Peters reluctantly ordered all hands ashore in the boats. “Gather together anything you want particularly,” he said. “You never know when a gale is coming along here, and she may slip off suddenly, but I guess we’ll have more time than we care about to take things ashore.”