Rapidly as he dared Bill allowed the plane to settle toward the water and soon they were only a few feet above the waves. Then, without saying a word to him, Gordon plunged over the side and disappeared. Lightened so suddenly the plane seemed to leap upward and for a moment Bill had all he could do to control it. But soon he had brought it down close to the water again and was anxiously gazing over the side of the cockpit. Gordon, watching the swimmer, had seen him, after a second despairing wave of the hand, sink from sight and knew that there was but a single chance. He struck the water head first and about twenty feet, as near as he could judge, to the right of where the swimmer had disappeared. As he came to the surface he looked in that direction and, to his joy, saw a head bob up about twenty-five feet away. But before he could reach the spot the head had again disappeared and, taking a long breath, he plunged downward. Down he swam with powerful strokes until it seemed that he must have gone far enough. He knew that a human body sinks but slowly and the one he was after had but a short start. But he could see nothing. “I’ll go a little farther,” he thought. But just then his eyes caught sight of an object a few feet to his left and slightly above him, and a moment later he was moving upward his left hand grasping the figure by the collar of his shirt. It seemed as though his lungs would burst before his head bobbed from the water and allowed him to draw the lifegiving air into them. His burden was, he judged, unconscious, and holding the head out of water he glanced about for the plane. But Bill had seen him and the Albatross was only a short distance away and moving toward him. He saw that Bill had already thrown a rope over the side and in another minute he had grasped it. “Keep the plane up and I’ll get the rope around him,” he shouted. “He’s not heavy and you can pull him up if you’re careful.” A moment later and the form was drawn from his arms and, treading water, he watched as Bill drew it slowly up and finally over the side. He had been obliged to increase the speed of the elevator to counter-balance the increase of weight and the plane was now nearly a hundred feet above the water. But Gordon had no fear regarding his own safety as he knew he could easily swim ashore if necessary. So he waited calmly for the plane to settle down again. Down it came and he could see Bill as he leaned over the side letting out the rope. The rope had nearly reached him when there was a slight sound just ahead which caught his ears and, looking up, he saw a triangular fin cutting through the water and but a few feet away. “Quick, Bill, there’s a shark,” he shouted.