The boatman laughed at his scare and the master signed to him not to lean over the side. Soon after this Hi noticed that La Boca did not seem to be getting any nearer. The wind, before falling, had drawn ahead, so that they had to make a short board out to sea.
“This is a bore,” he thought. “I may not be at La Boca till mid-day, if this goes on. But I’ll do it yet.”
The wind, which had drawn ahead, now chopped round a few points to the west and failed altogether.
“What’s the matter?” Hi asked.
“Wait for de breeze,” the master said.
“Shall we have to wait long?”
“Sometimes half hour, sometimes hour.”
“Would it be possible to row in to the shore?” Hi asked.
“Not got oars,” the boatman said. “Only one oar and a boat hook.”
There was nothing for it but to wait while the sun climbed up out of the sea and became hotter. Hi tried to judge the distance from La Boca. It seemed so near across that fore-shortened glitter of sea. Three miles, possibly four miles, he thought. The sea and the boat seemed to settle down to sleep.