The wind veered to the left, increasing steadily. The sea was lashed into foam; its spray swept over the boat, drenching them thoroughly. The waves, turning now with the wind, struck the boat on its stern quarter. One curled aboard, sloshing an inch or two of water about the bottom of the boat. Mercer feared it would interfere with the mechanism, but Anina reassured him. As the waves increased in size, Mercer swung the boat around so as to run directly before them. The stern frequently was lifted clear of the water now, the boat losing headway as a great cloud of hissing steam arose from behind. After a time the Light Country shore came into sight. They were close upon it before they saw it through the rain and murk. They seemed to be heading diagonally toward it. "Where are we, Anina?" Mercer asked anxiously. The girl shook her head. Steadily they were swept inward. The shore line, as they drew closer, was to Mercer quite unfamiliar. There were no bayous here, no inundated land. Instead, a bleak line of cliffs fronted them--a perpendicular wall against which the waves beat furiously. They could see only a short distance. The line of cliffs extended ahead of them out of sight in the gray of the sheets of rain. They were slanting toward the cliffs, and Mercer knew if he did not do something they would be driven against them in a few moments more. "We'll have to turn out, Anina. We can't land along here. We must keep away if we can." With the waves striking its stern quarter again, the boat made much heavier weather. It seemed to Mercer incredible that it should stay afloat. He found himself thoroughly frightened now, but when he remembered that Anina was in no danger he felt relieved. He had made her lie down in the boat, where she would be more sheltered from the wind and rain. Now he hastily bade her get up and sit beside him. "We might be swamped any minute, Anina. You sit there where you won't get caught if we go over." They swept onward, Mercer keeping the boat offshore as best he could. "Haven't you any idea where we are, Anina? How far along do these cliffs extend?" A huge, jagged pinnacle of rock, like a great cathedral spire set in the cliff, loomed into view ahead. Anina's face brightened, when she saw it. "The way to the Water City," she cried. "A river there is--ahead. Not so very far now." In spite of all Mercer could do, they were blowing steadily closer to the wave-lashed cliffs. He began to despair. "If anything happens, Anina--you fly up at once. You hear? Don't you wait. You can't help me any. I'll make out some way. You say good-by to Alan and your mother and sister for me--if--" He fell silent a moment, then said softly: "And, Anina, if that should happen, I want you to know that I think you're the sweetest, most wonderful little girl I ever met. And, Anina dear--" The girl gripped his arm with a cry of joy. "See, Ollie! There, ahead, the cliffs end. That is the Water City river! See it there?"