since it was so dark that vision would not aid him much.

There was nothing, however, but the mournful sighing of the wind and the
lapping of the waves. It seemed to Hazelton that the wind was growing
gradually more brisk and the waves larger, but he was not sure of that
until the water commenced splashing across his shoes. The footway on the
masonry became more slippery in consequence.

"With these rocks well wet down I wouldn't care much about having to run
back to the land," muttered Harry, dryly. "However, I won't have to go
back on my own feet. Tom will have the boat out here, and undoubtedly he
will plan to have us both taken back to shore after we get through cruising
around here. We should have brought the boat out in the first place."

A night bird screamed, then flapped its wings close to Harry's face in its
flight past him. The young engineer saw the moving wings for an instant;
then they vanished into the black beyond.

Farther out some other kind of bird screamed. The whole situation was a
weird one, but Harry was no coward, though a less courageous youth would
have found the situation hard on his nerves.

Still another night bird screamed, of some species with which Hazelton was
wholly unacquainted. The cry was answered by some sort of strange call
from the shore.

"It's a fine thing that I'm not superstitious," laughed the young engineer
to himself, "or I'd surely feel cold chills chasing each other up and down
my spine."