What had happened to drive them away from their home? He had never thought of the matter before in this light, thinking of it now he saw the truth in the words of the other, and having a greater mind than the mind of the canoe-builder, he linked the great waves with the business more definitely than the latter had done.
“Aioma,” said he, “the great waves that broke our houses drove the gulls.”
“But the waves,” said Aioma, “came before the gulls.”
“But the gulls may have rested on the water and come after,” said Dick, “the waves may have broken the reef as it broke our houses.”
“But the reef of Karolin was not broken,” said Aioma.
“The waves may have been greater at Marua,” replied Dick, “and have grown smaller with the coming.”
“I had thought of the waves,” said Aioma; “well, we will see; if the reef of Marua is broken, it is broken; if greater gulls are there, we will see them.”
Dick looked back once again. The treetops of Karolin so far off now showed only like pins’ heads, but the lagoon glow in the sky was definite; ahead could be seen the north-flowing current. Like the Kuro Shiwo of Japan, the Haya e amata current to the east of Karolin showed a blue deeper than the blue of the surrounding sea; but the Kuro Shiwo is vast, many miles in breadth, sweeping across the Pacific from Japan, it comes down the coasts of the Americas—a world within a world, a sea within a sea. The Haya e Amata is small, so narrow that its confines can be seen by the practised eyes of the canoe men, and from the deck of the schooner its marking was clearly visible to the eye that knew how to find it; a sharp yet subtle change of colour where the true sea met its river.
Dick could see it as plain as a road. With it for leader and the lagoon light of Karolin for beacon, they could not lose their way. Then there was Le Moan, the pathfinder who could bring them back even though the lagoon light vanished from the sky.
The weather was assured.