"What's that oil good for?" Jack asked Captain Ole.
"They use it to oil watches and fine clocks," the captain told him. "You see it's an oil that won't gum."
CHAPTER V.
SUSPICIONS.
"Land, ho!"
It was several days after the catching of the shark, and the boys were eating breakfast alone when they heard the call. Leaving their unfinished meal they rushed out of the cabin and hurried to the bridge, where they found their uncle and Captain Ole, the former gazing through a large pair of field glasses.
"Is it it?" Bob asked eagerly.
"I'm not sure but, unless I'm off my reckoning, it ought to be," his uncle smiled as he handed the glass to the captain.
During the past three days they had sighted several islands, most of them small, but one or two of considerable size. Early in the voyage Mr. Lakewood had explained that his plan was to proceed to the island which he had reached in the open boat so many years before, and which, he told them, was the most northerly of the group called The Marquesas Islands, and which were owned by the French. This Island was of considerable size, and being a coaling station, he was sure that they would be able to lay in a fresh supply of fuel oil. From there they would set out on the search for the Island of Pearls, as they had come to call it, and which, he was quite sure, was not shown on any map.
"That's the island," Mr. Lakewood assured them a few minutes later. "I remember those two low hills which you can see just a little way in from the shore."