thinking, though, the Commodore will make a little trouble for you if he hears about this trip."
"That's the reason I want to beat it back as soon as possible. Isn't there any way of getting off this forsaken sandbar?"
"Not today or tonight," declared the operator cheerfully. "Afraid you'll have to give me your company for some hours, or maybe days yet."
"Confound it!" exploded Hardy.
"'Tis pretty tough!"
"How long you think this blow will last?"
"To tell you the truth, I don't think it will be a long one." And he added, to give the excited man a grain of comfort, "Maybe a tug or something will be in hailing distance after the worst is over."
"If I can get over on anything floating," declared Hardy, grasping at the possibility, "I'll have you keep an eye on Windjammer and I'll try to scare up an auto to make Cape Peril through the country. Turner and I can come down in the seaplane after this blasted storm peters out and pick up my bird again."
With this arrangement in mind, the pilot tried
