"There, or thereabouts," he said, in a low voice, and looking at the merchant.
A pause ensued, and the two old men examined the speck pricked on the map, as if it were the waters covering the Proserpine.
"Now, sir," said Rolleston, "trace the course of the boats;" and he handed Wylie a pencil.
The sailor slowly averted his head, but stretched out his hand and took it, and traced two lines, the one short and straight, running nearly northeast. "That's the way the cutter headed when we lost her in the night."
The other line ran parallel to the first for half an inch, then, turning, bent backward and ran due south.
"This was our course," said Wylie.
General Rolleston looked up, and said, "Why did you desert the cutter?"
The mate looked at old Wardlaw, and, after some hesitation, replied: "After we lost sight of her the men with me declared that we could not reach either Juan Fernandez or Valparaiso with our stock of provisions, and insisted on standing for the sea-track of Australian liners between the Horn and Sydney."
This explanation was received in dead silence. Wylie fidgeted, and his eye wandered round the room.
General Rolleston applied his compasses to the chart. "I find that the Proserpine was not one thousand miles from Easter Island. Why did you not make for that land?"