Meanwhile the captain went forward. The men were piped on deck, and in
a short time they were under easy sail in search of the opening, the
captain keeping about a mile from the lovely shore, which Jack scanned
eagerly with a glass as they glided on, but he saw no sign of
inhabitants either in the open or among the palms.
Then he searched the open spots which could be seen here and there among
the trees where the ground began to rise, but there was nothing in the
shape of hut or shelter of any kind.
"Well, can you make anything out?" said Sir John, coming up to where
Jack was resting his elbows on the rail and sweeping the island in a
peculiarly effortless way, which only necessitated his keeping the glass
steadily to his eye and holding himself rigid, the result being that the
object glass had three separate motions given to it by the yacht,
namely, its gliding straight on, its fore and aft rise and fall as it
passed over the gently heaving swell, and thirdly the careening movement
as the _Silver Star_ yielded to the pressure of the wind. Hence every
part along the shore was being thoroughly searched.
"No, father, nothing. I thought I should see some canoes drawn up on
the 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 place
is quite big enough to hold towns even on the other side, hidden from us
by the mountain."
"But Captain Bradleigh thinks that if we do find any one there it will
only be a wandering party who have sailed from some other island. He
says that they are famous people in this direction for taking long
journeys in their canoes, sailing from island to island, for the sea is
dotted with them in every direction for hundreds and hundreds of miles."
"So I suppose," said Sir John thoughtfully; "but I do not see any signs
of an opening in the reef to let us through into the smooth water. All
depends upon that, for if we do not get into a sheltered part we can
only make a few short visits."
The wind began to fall so light when they had sailed a few miles, that
it was evident that before long they would have a similar calm to that
which they had experienced on the previous day.
"My brain's a little foggy about where the opening in the reef is," said
the captain soon after breakfast; "and I am rather anxious to get inside
before the wind drops, for one never knows what weather one is going to
have in these latitudes at this time of year, especially after a calm."
"Are you sure there is an opening in the reef?" asked the doctor
anxiously.
"Oh yes, I'm sure of that," said the captain, "for I rowed through it
and 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 can
make 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'll
take the other."
"Ay, that will be best," said the captain; "for our main-top is not like
that of a man-o'-war."
Sir John looked a little anxious, but he said nothing, and stood
watching as Jack went to the starboard main shrouds and began to ascend
rather awkwardly but with a quiet determination which soon landed him in
the little top, where he and the mate levelled their glasses, and began
to trace the edge of the reef where the great rollers were foaming, but
nothing 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 long
way off."
"I'm afraid you are mistaken," said the mate, who repeated the process
of sweeping the reef with his glass. "My eyes are pretty good ones, but
I can make out nothing but breakers. Try again, and see if you see the
place now."
Jack had not taken his double glass--a very good one presented to him by
his 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 way
off, but I can see it quite plainly."
"Make anything out?" cried the captain anxiously, as he watched them
from the deck.
"I can't, sir," replied the mate, "but Mr Jack here says he can see it
quite plainly."
"Well done, young mariner," cried the captain. "Good for the first
voyage. Have another look, Bartlett, and see how far it is off."
The mate looked again through his long glass, and Jack with his short
one.
"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 handed
to him, had a look, focussed it a little better for his own sight, and
then 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 it
till 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 trifling
from here, but it would be a certain capsize if it was attempted, and
the boat smashed to pieces. But we must do better than that;" and
giving the orders sharply, the firemen and engine-driver turned to
below, and five minutes later the great wreaths of black smoke were
pouring out of the funnel and rising high, forming a huge feather that
was 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 the
obstacle 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 masts
describing arcs against the sky.
"I don't like that," he said. "Bad place to be in if we had a bit of a
hurricane, with that reef just under our quarter."
"But there seems to be no likelihood of such a misfortune, for the glass
promised fine weather."
"All the same, though, sir," said Captain Bradleigh, "I am always
anxious when I find myself in a place which might prove dangerous, and I
am not so situated that I could get out of it."
At last there was a welcome hissing sound from the valve, the order was
given, and once more the yacht began to throb, as if it had its heart
pulsating rapidly, and the distance which separated them from the
opening in the reef was soon passed, the panorama being lovely in the
extreme. Once there the engine was slowed, stopped, and the captain
gave 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 the
lead being heaved all the time, and there was plenty of water for a ship
to sail in; but since then the coral insects may have been busy building
up walls or mushroom-shaped rocks, or a bit of a mountain top ready to
make 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 easily
over the swell caused by the breakers stretching away in a long line to
right and left; and as they rowed on, a man in the bows kept on heaving
the lead, and sounding to find deep water everywhere.
"Make a pretty loud din, don't they?" said the mate quietly, as, with a
feeling of awe beginning to increase as they neared the opening, Jack
sat watching the great rollers which came gliding in with the tide, and
then, as if enraged at the barrier to their progress, rose up foaming
and curved over to fall with a boom like thunder.
This increased as they drew nearer, the opening proving to be about a
hundred yards in width, and the water, which had seemed to be so smooth
and calm at a distance, being just outside one wild turmoil of eddy and
cross currents consequent upon the action of the breakers on either
side.
The boat danced about so at last, as they rowed slowly on to enable the
man in the bows to sound more frequently in this the entrance part, that
Jack 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, Mr
Bartlett?"
"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 look
there to the right; you see now why the captain said no boat could cross
the reef."
Jack could not forbear a shudder.
"The oars are nearly useless in that broken water, nearly all foam. The
men can get no grip. But here we could run in twice as fast if we
liked. Seems to be deep water. Capital channel. Not a suggestion of a
rock."
Then after contenting himself with letting the lead go down a few
fathoms in the deep water, the man began to keep to one level length of
ten fathoms, and this always went down without finding bottom till they
were well in the jaws of the reef, when all at once he cried the
depth--"By the mark nine," and repeated the announcement again and
again. Then it was eight, then seven, and as they glided out of the
turmoil 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 boat
round head to the opening once more, and they rowed out, sounding again
as they went back, after proving that there was a perfectly clear
channel for the yacht to pass in.
Once well outside the mate bade the men lie on their oars, and he
hoisted the boat-hook with a handkerchief on the end for the signal
agreed upon with the captain.
Then the _Silver Star_ began to move, and glided slowly in, picking up
the boat as she passed.
Half-an-hour later the anchors were dropped, and the yacht lay moored in
perfectly still water, through which Jack gazed down at a wonderful
submarine garden, and then at the line of cocoa-nut trees in the sandy
beach to their right. Then his eyes went wandering over the forest, and
up 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 with
the way in which it had been bent, and he was still gazing through his
glass when the announcement came that the meal was ready.
All too soon, for the boy did not know he was hungry, there had been too
much mental food to devour.
But he found that he could eat and pay attention to the conversation
too, which was upon the, to him, glorious subject of going ashore that
afternoon in the boat for the sake of a little exploring before the
night closed in, and ended what was to Jack a most exciting day.