"
The catamaran swung round and grated on the shingle. Marcel was in a
hurry.
"Are you ready?" asked De Sylva, bending toward Iris.
"Yes," she said.
"Then you had better kneel behind Marcel, and steady yourself by
placing your hands on his shoulders. Yes, that is it. Do not change
your position until you are ashore. Now you, Mr. Hozier."
Marcel murmured something.
"Ah, good!" cried De Sylva softly. "Domingo, too, has secured a
catamaran. He is bringing it at once in order to save time."
A second spectral figure emerged from the gloom. Without waiting for
further instructions, Marcel swung his paddle, and the one craft passed
the other in the center of the pool. Iris felt Hozier's hands on her
waist. He obeyed orders, and uttered no sound, but the action told her
that she might trust him implicitly. When the narrow cleft was
traversed, and she saw the open sea on her right, there was ample need
for some such assurance of guardianship. Viewed from the cliff, the
swell that broke on the half-submerged reef was of slight volume, but
it presented a very different and most disconcerting aspect when seen
in profile. It seemed to be an almost impossible feat for any man to
propel three narrow planks, top-heavy with a human freight, across a
wide channel through which such a sea was running.
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