"I am going to put off in the canoe," Fritz added, "and since the state of the sea now allows of it, I shall have no difficulty in getting round the eastern cape."
"Very well," M. Zermatt replied, "for we cannot remain in this state of uncertainty. Still, before boarding this vessel it is necessary to know all about it. I will come with you, Fritz."
Jack intervened.
"Papa," he said, "I am accustomed to paddling; it will take more than two hours merely to reach the cape, and it may be a long way then to where the ship is anchored. I must go with Fritz."
"That will be much better," Fritz added.
M. Zermatt hesitated. He felt that he ought to take part in an undertaking like this, which called for caution.
"Yes, let Fritz and Jack go," Mme. Zermatt put in. "We can leave it to them."
M. Zermatt yielded, and the most earnest injunctions were given to the two brothers. After rounding the cape they were to follow the shore, glide between the rocks that studded that part of the coast, see before being seen, only ascertain the position of the vessel, on no account go aboard, and come back at once to Rock Castle. M. Zermatt would then decide what course to pursue. If Fritz and Jack could avoid being seen at all it would be better.
Perhaps—too—as Ernest suggested—Fritz and Jack might manage to be taken for savages. Why should they not dress themselves up like savages and then blacken their faces and arms and hands, as Fritz had done once, when he brought Jenny back to Pearl Bay? The ship's crew would be less astonished to meet black men on this land in the Indian Ocean.
Ernest's suggestion was a good one. The two brothers disguised themselves as natives of the Nicobars, and then rubbed soot all over their faces and arms. Then they embarked in the canoe, and half an hour later it was past the mouth of the bay.