"Alas! lads, it means a mirage."
"Pardon me, sir, but I take leave to doubt it."
"You do?"
"I do, sir. That island lasted too long and clearly for a mirage."
"And you think?"
"I think, sir, that the isle we saw was as solid as the ship we stand upon, and that it has sunk."
"Such things have happened," said the captain. "At least they tell me so; but——. No, no; the island was a mirage. Yet, none the less, the boat is lost."
* * * * * *
The wind that had been blowing steadily from the east now began to fall, and in a very few minutes it was once more a dead and strangely impressive calm.
But clouds were now banking up in every direction. A curious blackness had overspread the sky to the nor'ard; a blackness that appeared to be steadily advancing, blotting out the sea as it came, and accompanied by dancing, quivering lightning, that appeared to run along the surface of the water. Ominous thunders too began to roll, and before sufficient sail was taken in the storm had burst all round them.