CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
FINDING THE WAY IN.
Meanwhile the captain went forward. The men were piped on deck, and ina short time they were under easy sail in search of the opening, thecaptain keeping about a mile from the lovely shore, which Jack scannedeagerly with a glass as they glided on, but he saw no sign ofinhabitants either in the open or among the palms.
Then he searched the open spots which could be seen here and there amongthe trees where the ground began to rise, but there was nothing in theshape of hut or shelter of any kind.
"Well, can you make anything out?" said Sir John, coming up to whereJack was resting his elbows on the rail and sweeping the island in apeculiarly effortless way, which only necessitated his keeping the glasssteadily to his eye and holding himself rigid, the result being that theobject glass had three separate motions given to it by the yacht,namely, its gliding straight on, its fore and aft rise and fall as itpassed over the gently heaving swell, and thirdly the careening movementas the _Silver Star_ yielded to the pressure of the wind. Hence everypart along the shore was being thoroughly searched.
"No, father, nothing. I thought I should see some canoes drawn up onthe shore of the lagoon, but there is no sign of any one being there.Oh, I do hope it is an uninhabited island."
"So do I, my boy; but we may come at any time upon a village. The placeis quite big enough to hold towns even on the other side, hidden from usby the mountain."
"But Captain Bradleigh thinks that if we do find any one there it willonly be a wandering party who have sailed from some other island. Hesays that they are famous people in this direction for taking longjourneys in their canoes, sailing from island to island, for the sea isdotted with them in every direction for hundreds and hundreds of miles."
"So I suppose," said Sir John thoughtfully; "but I do not see any signsof an opening in the reef to let us through into the smooth water. Alldepends upon that, for if we do not get into a sheltered part we canonly make a few short visits."
The wind began to fall so light when they had sailed a few miles, thatit was evident that before long they would have a similar calm to thatwhich they had experienced on the previous day.
"My brain's a little foggy about where the opening in the reef is," saidthe captain soon after breakfast; "and I am rather anxious to get insidebefore the wind drops, for one never knows what weather one is going tohave in these latitudes at this time of year, especially after a calm."
"Are you sure there is an opening in the reef?" asked the doctoranxiously.
"Oh yes, I'm sure of that," said the captain, "for I rowed through itand landed; but it's some years ago, and one can't recollect everything.Suppose you go aloft, Bartlett, with the glass, and see what you canmake out."
"May I come with you, Mr Bartlett, and bring mine?" said Jack eagerly.
"Glad of your company," replied the mate. "You take one side and I'lltake the other."
"Ay, that will be best," said the captain; "for our main-top is not likethat of a man-o'-war."
Sir John looked a little anxious, but he said nothing, and stoodwatching as Jack went to the starboard main shrouds and began to ascendrather awkwardly but with a quiet determination which soon landed him inthe little top, where he and the mate levelled their glasses, and beganto trace the edge of the reef where the great rollers were foaming, butnothing was visible, till all at once Jack said--
"What will the opening be like?"
"A spot where there is no foam--no breakers curling over."
"I've found it then," said Jack quickly, "but it seems to be a very longway off."
"I'm afraid you are mistaken," said the mate, who repeated the processof sweeping the reef with his glass. "My eyes are pretty good ones, butI can make out nothing but breakers. Try again, and see if you see theplace now."
Jack had not taken his double glass--a very good one presented to him byhis father--from his eyes, and a minute had not elapsed before he said--
"Yes, there it is: a dark bit in the white rollers. It's a long wayoff, but I can see it quite plainly."
"Make anything out?" cried the captain anxiously, as he watched themfrom the deck.
"I can't, sir," replied the mate, "but Mr Jack here says he can see itquite plainly."
"Well done, young mariner," cried the captain. "Good for the firstvoyage. Have another look, Bartlett, and see how far it is off."
The mate looked again through his long glass, and Jack with his shortone.
"Yes, there's the dark spot," said the latter. "Can't you see it now?"
"No. Your eyes are better than mine, my lad."
"Perhaps it's my glass that is better than yours," said the lad. "Try."
The mate lowered his own telescope and took the little binocular handedto him, had a look, focussed it a little better for his own sight, andthen cried sharply--
"Yes, sir, there's the gap in the reef."
"How far away?"
"About a couple of miles, sir."
"Tut--tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated the captain; "and we shan't make ittill the wind rises at night."
"What! be rocking out here all day again?" said the doctor.
"Yes, sir, I'm afraid so."
"But we could land here in the boat."
"What, through that surf, Sir John? Impossible. It looks very triflingfrom here, but it would be a certain capsize if it was attempted, andthe boat smashed to pieces. But we must do better than that;" andgiving the orders sharply, the firemen and engine-driver turned tobelow, and five minutes later the great wreaths of black smoke werepouring out of the funnel and rising high, forming a huge feather thatwas very slowly left behind.
Before there was steam enough to use they were once more in a dead calm,but the swell consequent on the check given to the current by theobstacle formed by the reef was far heavier than on the previous day,and the captain frowned as the yacht rocked from side to side, her mastsdescribing arcs against the sky.
"I don't like that," he said. "Bad place to be in if we had a bit of ahurricane, with that reef just under our quarter."
"But there seems to be no likelihood of such a misfortune, for the glasspromised fine weather."
"All the same, though, sir," said Captain Bradleigh, "I am alwaysanxious when I find myself in a place which might prove dangerous, and Iam not so situated that I could get out of it."
At last there was a welcome hissing sound from the valve, the order wasgiven, and once more the yacht began to throb, as if it had its heartpulsating rapidly, and the distance which separated them from theopening in the reef was soon passed, the panorama being lovely in theextreme. Once there the engine was slowed, stopped, and the captaingave orders for one of the boats to be lowered.
"Why not steam in at once?" asked Jack.
The captain smiled.
"It is some years since I was here, my lad. Then we rowed in, with thelead being heaved all the time, and there was plenty of water for a shipto sail in; but since then the coral insects may have been busy buildingup walls or mushroom-shaped rocks, or a bit of a mountain top ready tomake a hole in our bottom, so we must feel our way. Going with them?"
For answer Jack sprang into the boat, and they pushed off, riding easilyover the swell caused by the breakers stretching away in a long line toright and left; and as they rowed on, a man in the bows kept on heavingthe lead, and sounding to find deep water everywhere.
"Make a pretty loud din, don't they?" said the mate quietly, as, with afeeling of awe beginning to increase as they neared the opening, Jacksat watching the great rollers which came gliding in with the tide, andthen, as if enraged at the barrier to their progress, rose up foamingand curved over to fall with a boom like thunder.
This increased as they drew nearer, the opening proving to be about ahundred yards in width, and the water, which had seemed to be so smoothand calm at a distance, being just outside one wild turmoil of eddy andcross currents consequent upon the action of the breakers on eitherside.
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nbsp; The boat danced about so at last, as they rowed slowly on to enable theman in the bows to sound more frequently in this the entrance part, thatJack was unable to keep back the question he felt ashamed to put.
Out it came.
"Is it safe for such a small boat as this to go through there, MrBartlett?"
"If it were not I should row back," said the mate with a quiet smile."Oh, yes, we could go through far worse places than this. But lookthere to the right; you see now why the captain said no boat could crossthe reef."
Jack could not forbear a shudder.
"The oars are nearly useless in that broken water, nearly all foam. Themen can get no grip. But here we could run in twice as fast if weliked. Seems to be deep water. Capital channel. Not a suggestion of arock."
Then after contenting himself with letting the lead go down a fewfathoms in the deep water, the man began to keep to one level length often fathoms, and this always went down without finding bottom till theywere well in the jaws of the reef, when all at once he cried thedepth--"By the mark nine," and repeated the announcement again andagain. Then it was eight, then seven, and as they glided out of theturmoil into perfectly smooth water the depth shallowed to six fathoms,and kept at that, no less, wherever they rowed.
"Plenty of good anchorage in shelter," said the mate, slewing the boatround head to the opening once more, and they rowed out, sounding againas they went back, after proving that there was a perfectly clearchannel for the yacht to pass in.
Once well outside the mate bade the men lie on their oars, and hehoisted the boat-hook with a handkerchief on the end for the signalagreed upon with the captain.
Then the _Silver Star_ began to move, and glided slowly in, picking upthe boat as she passed.
Half-an-hour later the anchors were dropped, and the yacht lay moored inperfectly still water, through which Jack gazed down at a wonderfulsubmarine garden, and then at the line of cocoa-nut trees in the sandybeach to their right. Then his eyes went wandering over the forest, andup and up to the perfectly formed volcano which shot skyward.
And so on till his eyes grew misty, and the back of his neck ached withthe way in which it had been bent, and he was still gazing through hisglass when the announcement came that the meal was ready.
All too soon, for the boy did not know he was hungry, there had been toomuch mental food to devour.
But he found that he could eat and pay attention to the conversationtoo, which was upon the, to him, glorious subject of going ashore thatafternoon in the boat for the sake of a little exploring before thenight closed in, and ended what was to Jack a most exciting day.