It was a big task. Their first objects of attention were the three boats that were kept ashore at night. Fortunately they had been hauled up well above high-water mark and secured by their painters to some stout trees, while a line and grapnel had been laid out from the stern of each. Even then it had been touch and go. Only the heavy downpour preceding the hurricane had prevented the boats from being hurled away, the weight of the water in the bilges being barely sufficient to counterbalance the lifting-force of the wind. They found the three boats nearly filled to the thwarts with water, sand, and lumps of coral. Having pulled out the plugs and allowed the water to drain from the boats, the men proceeded to the site of the store-house, and set to work to collect the scattered cases. "Look!" exclaimed Swaine, pointing to the box of explosives. "We've had a narrow squeak, lads. The wood's charred." "So it is," agreed Merridew. "How? It's yards from the blaze caused by the lamp. Lightning, perhaps. Don't you think so, Beverley?" "P'r'aps," replied Bobby. "Anyone got any dry tobacco? Mine's a wash-out." CHAPTER XXV "Konked Out" Daybreak found the members of the expedition tired, hungry, and undaunted. The gale had wrought havoc with their resources. In less than a minute the work of days had been scattered to the winds, and until the remains could be collected and examined not even a rough idea of the state of their provisions and equipment could be obtained. Long before the waters of the lagoon returned to their usual state of tranquillity, Harborough, Villiers, and Dick Beverley came ashore. They, too, bore traces of the night's ordeal, for every man on board had momentarily expected the _Titania_ to part her cables and come up on the beach. "It might have been worse," remarked Harborough philosophically, as he surveyed the devastated site of the store-house. "We've had a very sticky time. The motor-boat's gone--torn clean away from her chocks." "And the cutter," added Beverley. "The remains are lying just beyond that ledge." "How did the sea-planes get on?" inquired Villiers. "Can't say," replied Bobby. "Alec and young Trevear have gone off to see what's happened." "There's one thing," remarked Harborough. "We have no further use for them, and it's merely a question of financial loss. We've to be thankful that we came out with comparatively whole skins. Wonder how the other fellows fared?" "What other fellows?" inquired Villiers. "Our friends the Huns," explained the baronet. "The _Zug_, with her high freeboard and being fairly light in ballast, must have felt it even more than the _Titania_. Directly we get things a bit ship-shape I'll run across and see if they are all right. Hanged if I like the idea of their being cut off on Ni Telang, even though they didn't act all above board. Well, how about some breakfast, Pete?"