“Not as we now are—three against twelve!”
“I don’t care for that. I’d give ten thousand pounds to be in their midst—even alone.”
“Ned, you’ll never be there alone; wherever you go, I go with you. We have a common cause, and shall stand or fall together.”
“That we shall. God bless you, Will Cadwallader! I feel you’re worthy of the friendship—the trust I’ve placed in you. And now, let’s talk no more about it; but bend on all the sail we can, and get to Panama. After that, we’ll steer for the island of Coiba. We’re so far fortunate, in having this westerly wind,” he continues, in a more cheerful tone. “If it keep in the same quarter, we’ll soon come in sight of land. And if this Chilian chart may be depended on, that should be a promontory on the west side of Panama Bay. I hope the chart’s a true one; for Punta Malo, an its name imports, isn’t a nice place to make mistakes about. By running too close to it with the wind in this quarter—”
“Steamer to norrard!” cries a rough voice, interrupting. It is Grummet’s.
The young officers, turning with a start, see the same.
Crozier, laying hold of a telescope, raises it to his eye, while he holds it there, saying:
“You’re right, cox: it is a steamer. And standing this way! She’ll run right across our bows. Up helm, and set the barque’s head on for her!”
The coxswain obeys; and with a few turns of the wheel brings the Condor’s head round, till she is right to meet the steamer. The officers, with the negro assisting, loose tacks and sheets, trimming her sails for the changed course.
Soon the two vessels, going in almost opposite directions, lessen the distance between. And as they mutually make approach, each speculates on the character of the other. They on board the barque have little difficulty in determining that of the steamer. At a glance they see she is not a warship; but a passenger packet. And as there are no others in that part of the Pacific, she can be only one of the “liners” late established between San Francisco and Panama; coming down from the former port, her destination the latter.