It was with reluctance that, a little later on, they obeyed the order given from the deck that the sport must end for the present, and they promised themselves that they would avail themselves of every opportunity of the kind that might offer in the future.
They were immensely exhilarated and refreshed by the swim and the rub-down that followed it, and that night at the table they showed the steward a quartette of appetites that made that functionary’s eyes bulge with wonder and admiration. Jimmy especially was at the top of his form, and made a clean sweep of everything within his reach.
When at last they had finished and come on deck, the horizon was aflame with glory of the aurora borealis. The beauty of it made them catch their breaths. They had seen very rarely that wonderful phenomenon, and never in such magnificence as it was now revealing under the northern skies.
All the colors of the rainbow were there, but shining with a splendor and radiance beyond all words. Great bands of many colored light shot out like a gigantic fan until the sky seemed to be blazing with millions of jeweled shafts. And these kept shifting, deepening, advancing, retreating, each combination of rarer loveliness than the one that preceded it until it seemed that Nature herself, the supreme artist, could do no more.
Awed into silence by the spectacle, the boys watched it spellbound. They were aroused at last by a voice behind them.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” said Johnson, the wireless operator, taking a seat beside them.
“Beyond anything I’ve ever seen,” answered Bob.
“There’s just one thing I have against it,” continued Johnson.
“What’s that?” asked Joe, in surprise.
“It’s put my wireless out of commission!”