"No," said Tom Horn. "It is the place of my captivity! It is the city of dead ships!"
XLI
The mate had Anthony on deck directly, and the young man eagerly searched the mists to make out what manner of a place it was that bulked up so out of the sea. In a few moments mademoiselle also appeared; and as she stood with them in the schooner's bow her face was white, but she said nothing.
The sails were motionless; the rotting sea piled against their prow; the air was hot and dull; the mist, veiling the whole region, was like steam.
"The pull of this current promises a deal of discomfort to us if we can't make way against it," said Anthony to the mate.
"I could wish we were well quit of it," said Corkery. "A little farther into the midst of this sea, and it might take more than a wind to help us away again."
"What depth of water does your chart give?" said Anthony, to Tom Horn.
The clerk turned his head but still kept his tight clutch on the rail.
"I so feared what was beneath these waters," he said, "that I never sounded them. But there is a great depth; there must be, because of the dreadful life that swarms there."