Gordon sat up and clutched his knees with his hands. “Yes, of course,” he said; “you are quite right. Still, I don’t see what there is to do.”
He did not wish to show too much youthful interest, but though fresh from civilization, he had learnt how far from it he was, and he was curious to see this sign of it that had come so much more quickly than he had anticipated.
“Wake Mr. Stedman, will you?” said he, “and we will go and take a look at her.”
“You can see nothing but the lights,” said Bradley, as he left the room; “it’s a black night, sir.”
Stedman was not new from the sight of men and ships of war, and came in half dressed and eager.
“Do you suppose it’s the big canoe Messenwah spoke of?” he said.
“I thought of that,” said Gordon.
The three men fumbled their way down the road to the plaza, and saw, as soon as they turned into it, the great outlines and the brilliant lights of an immense vessel, still more immense in the darkness, and glowing like a strange monster of the sea, with just a suggestion here and there, where the lights spread, of her cabins and bridges. As they stood on the shore, shivering in the cool night wind, they heard the bells strike over the water.
“It’s two o’clock,” said Bradley, counting.
“Well, we can do nothing, and they cannot mean to do much to-night,” Albert said. “We had better get some more sleep, and, Bradley, you keep watch and tell us as soon as day breaks.”