"Vote on what, Captain?" inquired Felix.
"There is no motion before the house, Flix; and when morning comes the sun will rise, not before," replied Captain Scott.
As soon as a plum-pudding had been disposed of, the party hastened to the fore cabin; for their curiosity had been excited by what had been said. The captain took the wheel; and Louis went to the engine, though he could hear what was said while near enough to the levers to act in case of need. Scott had brought from his berth in the after cabin a blue-colored roll, which all understood was a chart, though of what sea they did not know.
"Now, fellows, I have come to the conclusion that we are all tired of paddling about the muddy rivers of Borneo," the captain began, after he had scrutinized the compass in the binnacle. "I have said so before; though I have not enlarged on the subject, or spoken half as strongly as I might. The rest of you may not take my view of the situation; but I do not ask you to do so, and I hope you will all speak out just what you think, as I have done, and shall do stronger than before. We want something that is not quite so tame as shooting pigs and crocodiles at thirty-six cents a foot."
"I am quite of your opinion, Captain," added Morris. "I don't think there is any more fun in shooting orangs, for we are not naturalists nor scientists of any sort. If we had brought a naturalist with us, we should have done better."
"I have had enough of it for the present; but we have two weeks yet before the ship will come to Kuching for us, and what are we to do during that time?" said Louis, walking a little nearer to the wheel.
"That is precisely the conundrum I intend to guess on the present occasion, and for which I have called this meeting without consulting Mr. Belgrave," replied Captain Scott, giving the wheel to Morris, with the course, and unfolding the blue roll. "The Guardian-Mother will go to Saigon before she comes back to Sarawak. That is about a two days' run for her. From Sarawak, or the mouth of the river, the distance is five hundred sea miles. Now, to flash it on you all at once, I propose to sail in the Blanchita to Point Cambodia, where the ship will pick us up as she comes down the Gulf of Siam. Now I am ready to hear you all groan."
"It looks like a risky voyage in such a craft as this steam-launch," said Louis, when there was a prolonged silence.
"I wish you all to look over the chart of the China Sea; this meeting is adjourned to the after cabin at four o'clock, and you may do your groaning there."
The men soon came out of the after cabin, and Pitts was busy removing the dishes and putting everything in order. At the time stated, the party were seated around the table in the after cabin, ready to consider the captain's astounding proposition.