They listened to the light, running footsteps overhead. Except for that sound, considerably deadened by the roar of the breakers, no other noise reached their ears. The Mary was making port with a minimum of disturbance on board. Dare and Ben tried to visualize the conditions of the ship's approach to the land, but only succeeded in being puzzled. They were off a straight and precipitous coast intersected here and there by coves, but so far as they knew with nothing in the way of a harbour. Yet here was the Mary practically among the breakers, and still going ahead! It seemed that there was a secret harbour of some sort. Otherwise, how account for the schooner's nearness to the shore?—unless Pierre had overestimated his distance from the land and had suddenly found his ship among the breakers. But that event would surely have produced more alarm and accompanying noise than was evidenced on deck now.
Their puzzled thoughts found expression. "Why did they lower the masts, Ben? You heard the order. It's strange for a boat this size to have masts that can be lowered at will, isn't it?"
"Aye. And why wait for low water, when low water means there'll only be a few inches under her keel?"
"It's as if they had to go under something...."
"Mr. Dare!" exclaimed Ben, "you've hit on the very thing. They're goin' under somethin'; somethin' that's not very high and therefore has to be gone under at the lowest tide possible!"
There seemed indeed reason to believe that Dare had discovered the solution of the puzzle.
"But under what?" asked Dare.
"Aye, that's the question. I can't begin to think of what. It passes belief or understandin' when you thinks of the coast we're on."
The roar of the breakers suddenly increased. At the same moment there came a decided bump of the vessel's keel as it touched bottom. For a wild moment Dare and Ben thought the ship lost and visualized themselves being drowned like rats in a trap. Then the ship floated tranquilly again....
And then, with only the previous roar of the breakers for warning, there broke upon their ears a perfect pandemonium of sound. Even in their retreat they had to raise their voices to be heard above it. It was as if immense copper gongs were being beaten with giant hammers of steel.