Mr. Wolston took the telescope and distinctly saw a three-masted vessel moving under full sail six or seven miles out at sea.
Jack shouted, gesticulating wildly.
"It is the Unicorn! It can only be the Unicorn! She was not due until the middle of October, and here she is at the end of September, a fortnight before her time."
"There is nothing impossible in that," Mr. Wolston replied. "But, nevertheless, before we can be positive we must make quite sure which direction she is going in."
"She is making for New Switzerland," Jack declared. "To-morrow morning she will appear to the west of Deliverance Bay, and we shall be there to greet her! Let us be off, Mr. Wolston; let us travel all night!"
Jack, who was just getting ready to slide down the side of the peak, was checked by a final word from Ernest.
"No," he said, "look carefully, Mr. Wolston. The ship is not steering towards the island."
"That is so," said Mr. Wolston, after watching the movement of the vessel for a few minutes.
"Then she is not the Unicorn?" Jack exclaimed.
"No," said Ernest positively.