“I have been alarmed more than once at their looks and mutterings.”
As the sun went down, it was a curious sight when the double canoe rose on a swell and was outlined against the flaming disc behind, as we have described the ship and the moon more than three years before.
The sight was a strange one, though it lasted but a moment, when the craft went down, and the smaller proa swiftly climbed the long slope of the watery mountain in front. The round moon speedily rose in the sky, and it was so bright that it was hard to tell when twilight ended and its light began.
Never did Storms and Sanders long for utter darkness more than on the present occasion. Had the moon been obscured, they would have made a sharp turn in their flight, with every prospect of throwing the others completely off their trail, and with every reason to hope for a clean escape before sunrise.
But the flood of moon light prevented either proa losing sight of the other.
“There’s only one thing left to us now,” said the young captain.
“And that’s to fight.”
Fred nodded his head.
“Well, we can do that. But I wish we were well rid of these fellows with us. It puts us between two fires, and there can be no doubt they suspect the truth.”