There for half an hour they lay, straining their eyes seaward, with the full fury of the blast on their faces.

It was hopeless to expect to see anything, for the rain drove blindingly in their eyes, and, though scarcely five o'clock, the afternoon was almost as dark as evening.
"Could they possibly drive clear of the point ?" asked the doctor.
"Not possibly, I think.

Come down to the shore.

We are no use here." "Wait a bit; it seems to be getting lighter." It was; but for a long time the glow served only to make the obscurity more visible.

Presently, however, the rain paused for a moment, and enabled them to dear their eyes and look steadily ahead.