4 Chapter 4

I looked around, saw bubbles coming from the spot where the plane had disappeared, and shuddered. The image of the big metal machine falling fathoms down into the darkness of the sea was truly horrific.

Then I looked at the Marine, and saw to my surprise that he was grinning.

“We made it!” he said.

“Yeah,” I said, not feeling very excited.

For one thing, it was raining. For another, the clouds overhead were darkening ominously, and a wind was beginning to rise. This meant that the waves were increasing in size, and we couldn’t see very far unless we were right on the peak of one of them.

My companion did not seem to be discouraged, however. He slowly rotated on the spot, and craned his neck every time a big wave crest lifted him on high.

At last he cried out and pointed.

“Land!”

I wanted to ask how far, but decided against it. The Marine clearly was hopeful, and I decided to go with that. So, we both pushed our respective seat cushions in the direction he had indicated.