It was well for Elsie that she had learnt how to scull when in her
teens, and that her muscles were in fair condition owing to her skill
at tennis. Even so, she feared that she could never hold out against
the sustained stress of that pull across the bay. The heavy boat,
intended to be rowed by six men, had the added burthen of four canoes.
It was back-breaking work; but she neither faltered nor sighed until
Suarez said:
"Let me take your place now, senorita. In ten minutes we shall be at
the mouth of the creek, though heaven only knows how we shall find it."
He did not exaggerate in thus expressing his fear. Time and again they
neared the shore, only to hear the tidal swell breaking heavily on the
rocks. The lights of the _Kansas_, fully three miles away, could only
tell them that they were in the neighborhood of the place where
Courtenay had last been seen in this identical boat. The least
divergence from the line given by the position of the ship meant a
difference of hundreds of yards at such a distance, and there was an
ominous lightening of the gloom, accompanied by a dimming of the stars,
when Gray hit on the idea that the powerful current had probably
carried them a good deal southward of the point they were aiming at.
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