apologetically, and
he lighted the lamp which hung suspended above the table in the pilot-
house.

The lieutenant sat down and rapidly worked out his observations, with
the resulting discovery that they were exactly two miles north-east of
the spot they were seeking, having doubtless been swept that much out of
their proper position by the tide. The _Flying Fish_ was accordingly
raised some fifty feet from the bottom, her engines were once more set
in motion, slowly this time, however, and the ship's head laid in the
proper direction, the occupants of the pilot-house stationing themselves
at the windows and peering out eagerly ahead on the look-out for the
object of their search.

The engines being set to work dead slow and stopped at intervals when
the speed became too high, the speed of the _Flying Fish_ was kept down
to about twelve knots per hour, at which rate she would occupy ten
minutes in traversing the required distance. She had been under weigh
exactly nine minutes when Mildmay exclaimed:

"Sail ho! That is to say, there is a large object of some kind dead
ahead. Port _hard_, professor, or we shall be into it."

The professor, who was not absolutely ignorant of nautical phraseology,
promptly ported his helm and at the same moment stopped the engines, by
which manoeuvre the _Flying Fish_ glided close past the object so slowly
that it was easily distinguishable as a huge pinnacle of rock.

They were now on the exact spot indicated by the professor on the chart,
but nothing in the slightest degree resembling the hull of a ship was in
sight. Rocks in the form of pinnacles, huge fantastic boulders, and
boldly-jutting reefs appeared all round, as far as the powerful lamps of
the ship could project their rays, but no ship was to be seen. They
rose some fifty feet higher, in order to see over the more lofty rocks,
some of which intercepted their view, but with no more successful
result.

"There is no ship here, professor," at last remarked the baronet, after
all hands had carefully inspected the whole of the ground within their
ken. "Are you quite sure of the accuracy of your information?"

"My information has reference only to an _approximate_ position; the
ship is hereabout--within a few miles of this spot--and I considered
that our best chance of discovering her lay in coming here first, and,
if necessary, prosecuting our search with this position as a starting-
point."

"Very good. Then, as the