Shouldering the axe he walked to the beach. The tide was low and the
circular sweep of the reef showed up irregularly, its black outlines
sticking out of the vividly green water like jagged teeth.

Much débris from the steamer was lying high and dry. It was an easy
task for an athletic man to reach the palm tree, yet the sailor
hesitated, with almost imperceptible qualms.

"A baited rat-trap," he muttered. Then he quickened his pace. With the
first active spring from rock to rock his unacknowledged doubts
vanished. He might find stores of priceless utility. The reflection
inspired him. Jumping and climbing like a cat, in two minutes he was
near the tree.

He could now see the true explanation of its growth in a seemingly
impossible place. Here the bed of the sea bulged upwards in a small
sand cay, which silted round the base of a limestone rock, so different
in color and formation from the coral reef. Nature, whose engineering
contrivances can force springs to mountain tops, managed to deliver to
this isolated refuge a sufficient supply of water to nourish the palm,
and the roots, firmly lodged in deep crevices, were well protected from
the waves.

Between the sailor and the tree intervened a small stretch of shallow
water. Landward this submerged saddle shelved steeply into the lagoon.
Although the water in the cove was twenty fathoms in depth, its crystal
clearness was remarkable. The bottom, composed of marvelously white
sand and broken coral, rendered other objects conspicuous. He could see
plenty of fish, but not a single shark, whilst on the inner slope of
the reef was plainly visible the destroyed fore part of the