But if the Dart should not return in that interval they were truly lost.
It was some while before any one ventured to speak again.
Then Bell said, despairingly:
“How far is it to the land?”
“Fully a thousand miles in any direction,” replied Frank.
“We can hardly walk then?”
“No, I think not.”
“Is there any possibility of the Dart returning?”
“We can only hope that it will. Our only way is to wait here.”
Von Bulow sat down upon the rail of the sunken vessel, Captain Bell paced the deck, Frank tried to pierce the gloom of the ocean depths for some sign of the Dart.