"What is it, Mr. Glover?" the first lieutenant answered.
"I can make out the upper spar of a craft in among the trees over there, sir."
"You are sure that you are not mistaken?"
"Quite sure, sir. With the glass I can make out the truck quite distinctly. It is certainly either the upper spar of a craft of some kind or a flag-staff, of course I cannot say which."
The first lieutenant himself ran up the ratlines and joined Nat. The breeze was very light, and the Orpheus was scarcely moving through the water. Nat handed his telescope to Mr. Hill.
"There, sir, it is about a yard to the west of that black streak on the rock."
"I see it," the lieutenant exclaimed after a long gaze at the shore. "You are right, it must be, as you say, either the spar of a ship or a flag-staff; though how a ship could get in there is more than I can say. There, it has gone now!"
"The trees were rather lower at the point where we saw it, and the higher trees have shut it in."
He descended to the deck followed by Nat.
"Well, what do you make of it, Mr. Hill?" enquired the captain, who had come out of his cabin on hearing Nat's hail.