Twisting, he grabbed her hair. Then he began to fight his way to the surface. His head broke water. As he gulped air, he realized the blessed sight before his eyes. The rubber raft! His last jerk at the valve before Mercedes dragged him under had opened it. From the door of the sinking helicopter Retch was staring at the raft. At the same instant in final desperation, he jumped. His clutching fingers caught the edge of the rubber raft. Like a frightened river rat, he pulled himself out of the water. * * * * * Treading water, Parker dragged Mercedes to the edge of the raft. Retch leaned over and lifted her in. For an instant, Parker remained in the water, his fingers firm on the raft, letting it support him while he gasped air into his lungs. Behind him, with a gurgle and a rumble, the helicopter sank. He swung himself into the raft. Mercedes, her masculine garb clinging to her, was sitting up. "I am sorry, Beel," she said. "I get the scare up and I grab at you. I not know for sure what I am doing. You will forgive me, no?" "Think nothing of it," Parker answered. "Anybody can get scared under these circumstances." "That I know," she answered. "But you saved my life. And that I will remember." "Forget it," Parker said. "I did what had to be done, nothing more." "But I will remember it," she calmly repeated. Parker was silent. Under her hardness for the first time he glimpsed something deeper, finer. She was the type who meant what she said. She was a woman who paid her debts. Under other circumstances.... Parker put the thought out of his mind. Now he set about doing what had to be done--paddling to the island. He turned his eyes toward it. The island was gone. Calm, serene, the level face of the sea stretched away to the horizon. Fear, dark, sudden, and overwhelming, arose in Bill Parker. The fear did not come up just because the face of the sea was level and calm, the island not visible, but because of something else, something that he had forgotten, something that he had put out of his mind and out of his life. Could it be possible that-- He caught himself. In that direction lay madness. Words exploded out of him. "Hey, what the hell? Am I nuts? What became of that island? I saw it!" "I told you we had to hurry to get there when we saw it." Retch was hesitant. "It's--it's not always there." "But it's got to be there! I saw it!" "There is a trick about that island," Retch said. "I--it--I--you don't always see it. Something funny." Parker was across the shaking, unsteady raft. His impulse was to take Retch by the throat, to shake words out of him. "What do you mean?" He was restraining himself with difficulty. Retch spread his hands. "I'm sorry, I can't explain. That's all I know. Believe me."