"What kind of a vessel would you call her, Ned?" asked Jimmy; while Francois stood and stared and listened, still believing that the boat must be a phantom, such as was likely to vanish before their very eyes, as might a wisp of trailing fog.
"I've seen whalers and sealers built like her," was the verdict of the leader.
The fog was being carried away more rapidly now, and the boys soon made another discovery that interested them. This was nothing more nor less than the fact that a second, yes, a third and even a fourth vessel of apparently the same tonnage lay at anchor further away, possibly a couple of miles from shore.
"Take a good look while you can, fellows," Ned told them "because I reckon that the wonderful disappearing fleet is before you right now. We can say we've set eyes on the mystery of Hudson Bay, even if we never learn what the answer is."
They all stared as hard as they could.
Meanwhile, Ned had unslung his glasses and was adjusting them to his eyes. There was enough of the fog still floating around to make seeing something of a labor; so that he did not get much satisfaction from the observation taken.
"I can see men aboard of all the vessels," he announced; "and there is a boat being taken up on the davits of the nearest craft, which must have been ashore in the fog, for some reason or other."
"Why can't we signal to them to come in and take us off?" asked Teddy, struck with a brilliant idea.
"There's the answer," replied Ned, when all of the vessels making up the anchored fleet vanished utterly from view, as another bank of fog crept up.
He turned and swept the shore beyond with the glasses.