er remain here, Walker. We have not long to
wait now for the dawn, and four eyes are better than two."

Walker imagined that the skipper was ready for a chat.

"Things are in a dweadful mess below, sir. I can't make head or tail of
the smash."

"Well, that must wait. Don't talk. Keep a sharp lookout."

The engineer could not guess that the captain's pulse was beating a
trifle more rapidly with a certain elation. They were undoubtedly
passing White Horse Island. It revealed its presence by deflecting the
tremendous sea-river which ferried the _Kansas_ onward at such a rate.
In fifteen or twenty minutes Courtenay expected to find indications of a
more northerly set of the tide, and he watched the compass intently for
the first sign of this return to the former course. If the ship crossed
the current one way or the other she would certainly be driven ashore on
some outlying spur of the island or detached sunken reef. Hence, he must
actually guess his way, with something of the acquired sense of the
blind, because the slight chance of ultimate escape for the ship and her
occupants rested wholly on the assumption that some ocean by-way was
leading her to a deep-water inlet, where it might be possible to drop the
anchor.

In eighteen minutes, or thereabouts, the needle moved slightly.
Courtenay once more assisted the ship with the helm. She steadied
herself, and the compass pointed due northeast again.

Walker, though an engineer, knew enough of navigation to recognize the
apparent impossibility of the captain's being able to steer with any real
knowledge of his surroundings. The wheel-twisting, therefore, savored of
magic; but his orders were to look ahead, and he obeyed.

Soon he thought he could discern an irregular pink crescent, with the
concave side downwards, somewhere in the blackness beyond the bows. He
rubbed his eyes, and said nothing, believing that the unaccustomed strain
of gazing into the dark had affected his sight. But the pink crescent
brightened and deepened, and speedily it was joined by two others,
equally irregular and somewhat lower. Then he could bear the suspense no
longer.

"Captain, d'ye see yon?" he asked, in a voice tremulous with awe.

"Yes. That is the sun just catching the summits of snow-topped hills.
It not only foretells the dawn, but is a sign of fine weather. There are
no clouds over the land, or we should not see the peaks."

Walker began to have a respect for th