CHAPTER XXIV.
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING--DOINGS ON THE ISLE OF PALMS--GASCOYNE'S DESPAIR.
It was not without some difficulty that the boat reached the shore after the squall burst upon them.

On landing, the party observed, dark though it was, that their leader's countenance wore an expression of the deepest anxiety; yet there were lines upon it that indicated the raging of conflicting passions which he found it difficult to restrain.
"I fear me," said Ole Thorwald, in a troubled voice, "that our young friend Henry Stuart is in danger." "Lost!" said Gascoyne, in a voice so low and grating that it startled his hearers.
"Say not so," said Mr.Mason, earnestly.

"He is a brave and a clever youth, and knows how to manage the cutter until we can row back and fetch him ashore." "Row back!" exclaimed Gascoyne, almost fiercely.

"Think you that I would stand here idly if our boat could live in such a sea as now rolls on the rocks?
The Wasp must have been washed over the reef by this time.

She may pass the next without being dashed to pieces, but she is too rickety to stand the third.