“Supposing,” said I, “only supposing, we were to sail due south to the land which you believe to exist beyond Cape Horn, how should we proceed?”
“We should of course make the Falkland Islands our base, and steer a directly southern course from there. They would be the nearest inhabited land.”
I pondered this information silently, ruminating various matters in my mind. Finally I turned benignantly towards the Professor, and seized his hand.
“Monsieur Lessaution,” said I, “I will say frankly that I do not believe that we shall find a vestige of this extinct race, and I am inclined to think that both the English letter and the Mayan document are frauds. But I want relaxation and excitement, and I believe the cruise may possibly do me all the good in the world. We will return to England and find out the cost of equipping a yacht for sailing in these latitudes. If my man of business advises me that I am in a position to undertake it, I shall do so. And I request the pleasure of your company if this proposal becomes an accomplished fact.”
His sallow little cheeks flushed up with pleasure, and he shook my proffered hand violently.
“I was not mistaken in you, Monsieur de Heatherslie,” he said, with dignity. “I felt that no man of your adventurous race would fail at a chance like this. Receive my congratulations on your decision, and my regrets that I used unpardonable adjectives to goad you into it. You will find me, I trust, not unworthy of the honour you have done me.”
Gerry used less set terms in his address. “Thanks, old man,” he remarked complacently; “I should like to come, though you haven’t asked me. And now all’s settled peacefully, let’s have a drink,” and he headed the procession which advanced with much unanimity upon the dining tent.
But I felt a hypocrite and a pretender. For what had influenced my decision was simply a sentence culled from the published itinerary of the s.s. Madagascar’s winter’s cruise. And it ran thus—
“On or about February 6, Port Lewis in the Falkland Isles, previous to her return home.”