“I want you to take care of yourself; that’s all, sir. There, don’t give us another fright. I daresay you’ll find plenty of other dangerous places. But what did you say, Mr Panton—that great hole was a vent of the mountain?”
“Yes, undoubtedly.”
“What mountain, sir?”
“The one that was in eruption.”
“Yes, but we don’t see one!”
“We see its effects,” said Panton, “and I daresay we shall see it as soon as that line of vapour begins to clear away.”
He pointed to the long misty bank in the distance, which completely shut off the view beyond the stretch of forest to the northward.
“Well then, gentlemen, as I have a great deal to do on board, I suppose I may leave you?”
“Unless you’d like to stop and help skin Lane’s snakes?”
“Not I,” said the mate merrily. “There, don’t get into any more trouble, please.”