And here the driving snow soon swallowed up the land, but Bobby was not afraid, and pulling with all his might turned down before the storm.
For a little while all went well, and Bobby was congratulating himself that after all he would reach home before it became too dark to see.
Then suddenly a big sea broke over his stern, and left the skiff half filled with water.

This was serious.

He could not relinquish the oars to bail out the water.

Another such deluge would smother him.
Then he realized that the seas had grown too big for him to weather, and his one hope was to make a landing.

He searched his mind for a section of the shore within his reach, sufficiently free from jagged rocks and sufficiently sheltered to offer him a safe landing, and all at once he bethought himself of the bird island where he and Jimmy had gone egging, and which he had visited many times since.
He was, fortunately, very near the island and when he heard the surf beating upon its rocky shores he determined quickly to make an effort to run upon its lee shore.