22
her body on the hands of the brothers. She stretched out and caught Andrew’s
hand and forearm. The boat guttered and her head was plunged underwater, she
felt Andrew’s hand to which she clung deliberately shake itself free and draw
away. Choked, and with streaming eyes, she saw him slip away, his head
visible for a moment in the spume and mist. The boat sprang up at the bows,
and under her belly she felt the two brothers grasp convulsively to retain
their hold. She moved her head from side to side of the keel: "He’s gone!
Your father's gone!' she screamed, and looked into the eyes of drowning men.
The boat was drawn into the broken race below the mainland, and circled
down and across it* like a bruised fly in a gutter. Sarah, her face beaten
and bruised by the plunging keel, lay like wax across the hands of the brothers.
With a plunge and stumble Hamilton touched ground. He dragged his brother
ashore and lifted the girl from the boat and laid her on the shingle beside
Frank. Above him, on the hill, he heard the shrill cry of a boy and saw him
running, zig-zag, down the shadowy slope, with a ;roan he fell on his knees
between his brother and the girl.
