“Blessed if I know what it is,� he growled. “Looks more like a fire than anything else.�
Just then the bell sounded for dinner, a summons to which the boys were never deaf. When they came on deck again after the meal, an extraordinary scene met their gaze. The schooner was going fast through moderately smooth water, but a quarter of a mile ahead the sea was covered with a milky white mist under which the waves boiled and tumbled in wild confusion. As they looked from the body of the mist, there was belched a dense cloud of black smoke.
“Port! Hard aport!� bawled Cap’n Toby, and he himself sprang to the wheel and aided the helmsman in carrying out the maneuver, “flatten in those head sails! Look smart, now!�
The Morning Star shot off on a new tack just in time to avoid sailing right into the midst of the bubbling, boiling water, for the breeze had dropped and her progress was slower.
“What on earth is it?� demanded Raynor of Captain Toby.
“It’s a subterranean eruption!� shouted the captain. “I’ve heard of such in these parts. Sir John Franklin saw ’em. Look! Look yonder!�
A cable’s length off, a great black patch of what glistened like mud, rose out of the sea. It bubbled and blistered like baking dough. Thick columns of smoke rose all round it, and jets of steam shot from holes in its surface.
The breeze suddenly veered. A fierce gust, laden with steam and smoke, swept down on the Morning Star.
The sailors shouted with alarm. Mr. Terrill turned the color of parchment.
“Is-there-is—er-that is, are we in danger?â€� he stammered.