"I almost guessed that," answered Bob; then he hesitated. "I wish you would let me try an observation with it," he concluded with earnestness.
"Let you?" cried Mackay. "I want you to do it. Do ye remember," he continued musingly, "o' me sending you a book on navigation; well, that was because I wanted to influence your studies in that direction. I canna say whether I have succeeded or no'——"
Bob laughed grimly. "My father was a sailor," said he. "His brother was a navigator; and I—I would dearly like to be able to steer a course as well."
"My lad," said Mackay, "you'll maybe get your wish sooner than you expect. I brought out the sextant just to sound you, for nae man can say that Mackay persuaded him against his will; but I see that the same blood runs in the family. Take the sextant, Bob; I give it to you, though it is my dearest possession. Handle it carefully; it has proved true on mony a long weary journey. But mind, I may ask ye to use it in earnest soon."
Without another word he arose and walked from the tent, leaving Bob alone in the darkness, his mind filled with rushing thoughts. When Jack came in, about half an hour later, and lit a candle, he found him in the same place. Truly the touch of the mystic emblem had aroused in him the uncontrollable indefinite longing which is the sure birthright of the wanderer. The call of the bush seemed to echo through his brain, the boundless horizon beckoned him.
Jack's entry helped to throw off the spell which had gripped him. He arose and placed the sextant carefully back in its case beside the flute.
"What on earth is that, Bob?" asked Jack, anxiously. "Not another musical instrument, surely."
"We'll have a look at it to-morrow, Jack," answered Bob. "It's a sextant which Mackay has given me."
"Great Scot!" ejaculated the irrepressible youth, "can he use a sextant too?"
Bob smiled. "I don't know," said he, "but I wouldn't be too sure."