tant--so it appeared, so rapid was the discharge--there was a
blinding flash of light on board the wreck, a terrific concussion, but
no sound, and the wreck _vanished_; that is the only word which
adequately describes the suddenness and completeness of her destruction.
The concussion was so violent that it jarred the _Flying Fish_
throughout the whole of her vast frame; indeed, but for her tremendous
strength she would in all probability have herself been destroyed. As
it was, no damage or harm whatever was done on board beyond throwing the
four occupants of the pilothouse somewhat violently to the floor, and
terrifying the cook and the hitherto sedate George almost out of their
senses.

But perhaps even they were less frightened than were the captain and
crew of a small Levant trader which happened at the moment to be almost
directly above the scene of the explosion. All hands felt the jar; the
watch below frantically sprang on deck under the impression that they
had collided with another vessel; and the skipper, who happened to be
standing near the taffrail, was horrified beyond expression to see an
immense cone of water some thirty feet high rise out of the sea just
astern of his vessel, to fall next moment with a deafening splash and an
accompanying surge which tossed the little vessel as helplessly about
for a moment or two as though she had been the merest cockle-shell. It
took that skipper nearly half an hour to fully recover his faculties;
and when he did so, his first act was to go below and solemnly make an
entry in his official log to the effect that, on such and such a date at
such an hour, in latitude and longitude so and so, the weather at the
time being fine, with a moderate breeze from S.W., the schooner _Pomona_
had experienced a terrific shock of earthquake with an accompanying
disturbance of water which nearly swamped the ship. This entry he
signed in the presence of the mate, secured that officer's signature to
it also, and then, reviving his courage with a glass of grog stiff
enough to float a marlinespike, he retired to his bunk.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

EN ROUTE FOR THE NORTH POLE.

The destruction of the wreck having been effected, the _Flying Fish_
moved a few miles northward until she reached a small level sandy patch
affording a good berth for the night, and there she was once more placed
upon the ground and anchored.

Nothing whatever occurred to disturb the repose of the travellers; and