“Why, the distance is very short!”
“Yes, sir; but there are obstacles in the way.”
“Obstacles?”
“Well, sir, I’ve seen some tremendous sharks about in the clear water; and I don’t think any one could get any distance without having some of the brutes after him.”
A terrible silence followed this declaration, and the captain drew his breath hard.
“Come aboard,” he said. “It is too dark for further search to be made.”
The boat was rowed alongside, the falls lowered, the hooks adjusted, and she was hoisted up and swung inboard.
“I’d give anything to capture the scoundrels,” said the captain, after walking up and down for a few minutes with the lieutenant; “but I don’t want the poor fellows to meet with such a fate as that. Do you think it likely?”
“More than likely, sir,” said the lieutenant, coldly.
The captain turned aft, made his way to the quarter-deck, and remained there attentively watching shoreward to where he could faintly see the lights of the last boat.