"Well," said Rollo. "And now, Jane, let us go up on deck and see what we can see."
Jane was pleased with this proposal; so she followed Rollo to the deck. Maria said that she would come by and by, but for the present she wished to go and see her brother. She said that she had a brother on board who was quite out of health. He was going to Europe in hopes that the voyage would restore him. At present, however, he was very unwell, and was confined to his berth, and she must go and see him.
So Rollo and Jane went to see if they could find their way up on deck alone. Rollo went before, and Jane followed. They ascended the steep stairs where they had gone up at first, and then walked aft upon the deck until they came to the settees where they had been sitting before the luncheon. They sat down upon one of these settees, where they had a fine view, not only of the wide expanse of sea on every hand, but also of the whole extent of the decks of the ship. They remained here nearly two hours, observing what was going on around them, and they saw a great many things that interested them very much indeed.
The first thing that attracted their attention was the sound of a bell, which struck four strokes very distinctly, and in a very peculiar manner, near where the helmsman stood in steering the ship. This bell has already been mentioned. It hung directly before the helmsman's window, and it had a short rope attached to the clapper of it. The helmsman, or the man at the wheel, as he is sometimes called, from the fact that he steers the ship by means of a wheel, with handles all around the periphery of it, had opened his window just after Rollo and Jane had taken their seats, and had pulled this clapper so as to strike four strokes upon the bell, the strokes being in pairs, thus:—
Ding—ding! Ding—ding!
In a minute afterward, Rollo and Jane heard the sound repeated in precisely the same manner from another bell, that seemed to be far in the forward part of the ship.
Ding—ding! Ding—ding!
"I wonder what that means?" said Rollo.
"I expect it means that it is four o'clock," said Jane.
"I should not think it could be so late as four o'clock," said Rollo.