a blind passage, without another
outlet. On looking out astern, I found that we had completely lost
sight of the sea, and thus were on every side surrounded by trees and
reefs. A stranger would, indeed, have found no little difficulty in
getting out of the place, had he ever by any wonderful chance managed to
get into it. Still on we flew.

"Now," exclaimed Van Graoul triumphantly, "we shall see directly; and if
I mistake not, we shall not be far astern of her."

Soon after he spoke we shot past a thickly-wooded point, and emerged
into open, lake-like expanse. I saw his countenance fall. The stranger
was nowhere to be seen.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

Everybody on board experienced a feeling of blank disappointment, as in
vain we looked in the hopes of seeing the royals of the brig appearing
above the trees. Either Van Graoul had miscalculated her distance from
us, or she had taken some other passage; or, as Dick Harper the Yankee
seaman observed, she was in truth the _Flying Dutchman_. At all events
it appeared that we had run into a most dangerous position, to very
little purpose. Should the brig be the pirate, and still be concealed
somewhere in the neighbourhood--if we brought up, she might at night
attack us with her boats; and though we might beat them off, we might
not escape loss, and at the same time be as far from our object as ever.
We had no time for deliberation--our course must now be ahead, so we
stood across the lake-like expanse I have spoken of, where as much
caution as before was necessary; for it was full of reefs, and in
another quarter of an hour we were again threading the labyrinth-like
canals, from which we had before emerged. Every instant I hoped to come
upon the chase, but still as we sailed on she eluded us.

His attention was too much occupied to allow me to keep him in
conversation and I saw he was as much vexed as I was at the escape of
the stranger. Little Ungka seemed the most surprised of any one at
finding himself among trees; but he showed no disposition to quit his
friends on board the schooner, even for the sake of being lord of all he
surveyed. For two hours we stood on; sometimes the channels between the
islands widened, and here we crossed broad sounds, but did not attempt
to go down any of them, as their entrances, Van Graoul said, were full
of dangerous shoals. We glided on; and I began to think that we were
never to be clear of this wooded labyrinth; for, curious