Gordon eased off the log-line, so that nothing should prevent it from running easily.
"Up!" shouted Smith; and Gordon stopped the line.
"Very well," added Peaks. "What's the mark?"
"Ten and a quarter," replied the officer.
"That sounds more like it. I knew this ship was going more than seven knots. You see, young gentlemen, you can't catch flies and tend the log-line at the same time. Now, you may try it over again."
The experiment was repeated, with the same result. Other officers and seamen were called to the quarter-deck, and the training in heaving the log continued, until a reasonable degree of proficiency was attained.
"Land ho!" cried the lookout on the top-gallant forecastle, at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon.
"Where away?" called the officer of the deck.
"Dead ahead, sir."
"What is that land, Mr. Lowington?" asked Paul Kendall.