“No,” said Rodd shortly; and he stopped on deck and watched with the men till the sun was well on high.
Then the suggestion of breakfast seemed so full of promise that after partaking thereof he went back on deck, to stand scanning the beautiful sunlit plain with the glass; but no further glimpse was seen of the strange monster that day, nor yet during the next six weeks, during which time they glided into port for fresh provisions twice, the second time in that of the sunny Canary Islands. There a week was spent in inspecting the beauties and the wonders of the old volcanic caverns, before they were well at sea again with the sun daily growing hotter and sea and sky more beautiful.
Days upon days were spent in exploring the attractions of the Sargasso Sea, till the doctor cried “Hold! Enough!” For the bottles in the laboratory were being filled up too fast, and there was too much to do yet in the farther south, towards which they sailed slowly and steadily on, till one day a holiday was announced, for the men had been hard at work rowing here and rowing there, hauling in drag and dredge, sounding and hoisting, harpooning fish, and busying themselves with the spoil they dragged on board, while Captain Chubb stumped up and down with his hands very deep in his pockets, scowling at his sullied deck, and wearing clouds upon his sun-tanned brow, till Dr Robson bade the men throw all the rest overboard, this order, for which the skipper had been impatiently waiting, being immediately supplemented by another, brief and prompt.
“Buckets! Swabs!”
And then as the slime of mollusc, fish and seaweed was washed away, and the deck of the schooner rapidly grew white again, the skipper smiled and entered into a pleasant chat with the tired naturalist and his nephew.
The men’s holiday was spent after the fashion of such holidays, over the buffoonery enjoyed by the crew, especially in olden days, in crossing the line; and then it was onward again amidst glorious sunrises and sunsets, amidst calms and fervent seas that seemed to blaze back the heat of the sun.
It was all new to Rodd, and all glorious. He was never tired of seeing the flying-fish skim out of the water to seek safety, scattered by the pursuit of some bonito or dolphin, watching them till they dipped down into the smooth surface, as if to gather new strength, and then skim out again.
The dolphins and bonito were caught, the boy growing skilful in darting down the harpoon-like “grains,” the modern form of Neptune fish-spear.
There were times too when the boy expressed his wonder that in spite of all the time they had been sailing south, it had been such a rare thing to meet or overtake another vessel.
“A pretty good proof,” the doctor would say, “of the vastness of the ocean.”