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Black Caesar's Clan : a Florida Mystery Story by Albert Payson Terhune
page 146 of 264 (55%)
she toppled off the tooth of reef and slid free. Then with a
wallowing dignity she proceeded to sink.

The iron sheathing on her keel and hull had not been strong
enough in its rusted state to resist the hammerblow of the
reef. But it was heavy enough, together with her big metal
steering apparatus, to counterbalance any buoyant qualities
left in the wooden frame.

And. down she went, waddling like a fat and ponderous hen,
into a twenty-foot nest of water.

Gavin had wasted no time in the impossible feat of baling her
or of plugging her unpluggable leak. As she went swayingly
toward the bottom of the bay he slipped clear of her and
struck out through the tepid water.

The mangrove swamp's beach was a bare half-mile away. And the
man knew he could swim the intervening space. with ease. Yet
the tedious delay of it all irked him and fanned to a blind
fury his rage against Milo. Moreover, now, he could not hope
to reach the hidden path before real darkness should set in.
And he did not relish the idea of traversing its blind mazes
without a glimmer of daylight to guide him.

Yet he struck out, stubbornly, doggedly. As he passed the
tooth of coral that had wrecked his scow the reef gave him a
painful farewell scrape on one kicking knee. He swam on
fuming at this latest annoyance.

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