He lowered the telescope which he had been holding in his hand, and answered,-
"No, Mrs. Weldon, I cannot see anything; and it is this Hiat perplexes me so sorely. I cannot understand why we have not already come in sight of land. It is nearly a month since we lost our poor dear captain. There has been no delay in our progress; no stoppage in our rate of speed. I cannot make it out."
"How far were we from land when we lost the captain?"
"I am sure I am not far out in saying that we were scarcely more than 4500 miles from the shores of America."
"And at what rate have we been sailing?"
"Not much less than nine score knots a day."
"How long, then, do you reckon, Dick, we ought to be in arriving at the coast?"
"Under six-and-twenty days," replied Dick.
He paused before he spoke again, then added,-
"But what mystifies me even more than our failing to sight the land is this: we have not come across a single vessel; and yet vessels without number are always traversing these seas."