"Perhaps we have waited too long as it is," said Jenny.
"I don't think so," Ernest answered. "It is out of the question that the captain of this ship, whatever it is, won't try to find out all about it."
"What is the good of all this talk, talk!" cried Jack. "Let us go!"
"Give us time to get the launch ready," said M. Zermatt.
"It would take too long," Fritz declared, "and the canoe will serve."
"Very well," said M. Zermatt. Then he added: "The important point is to behave with the utmost caution. I do not think it likely that any Malay or Australian savages have landed on the eastern coast, but the Indian Ocean is infested by pirates, and we should have everything to fear from them."
"Yes," said Mme. Zermatt, "and it would be better for this ship to go away if——"
"I will go myself," M. Zermatt declared. "Before we get into communication with these strangers we must know with whom we have to deal."
This decision was a wise one. It only remained to put it into execution. But as ill luck would have it, the weather had changed since the early morning. After having dropped, the wind had now veered to the west and was freshening perceptibly. The canoe could not have ventured into the bay, even if it had only been a matter of getting to Shark's Island. The sky was covered with clouds which were rising out of the west, squall clouds of which a sailor is always mistrustful.
But, failing the canoe, and although it might involve a delay of an hour or two in getting her ready, was it not possible to use the launch, heavy as the swell might be outside the mouth of the bay?