“Bah! Impossible! How could I?”
Ned said nothing, but glanced at the dimly-seen paddlers working away, and at the sleeping party who were in the bottom of the canoe, and then turned his attention astern.
“Wonder where they are taking us, sir,” he said. “There must be a big island somewhere out in this direction, and—”
He became silent so suddenly that Jack turned to him in surprise, and saw that he was gazing fixedly over the stern of the canoe into the black darkness, for there was no sign of the coming day.
“What are you thinking?” said Jack at last.
“That I shall have to report you to the captain, sir, for not keeping better watch. I didn’t set you to it. You volunteered.”
“What do you mean, Ned?” cried Jack excitedly.
“You said, when I asked you whether you had seen anything of the yacht, ‘Bah! Impossible! How could I?’”
“Well, how could I in the dark?”
“By keeping a bright look-out, sir. There’s her light.”