Before five o'clock John, who was constantly on the watch, came to the Professor and remarked that he believed the haze to the north indicated the presence of land. This was soon communicated to the boys, and there was no more idleness from that time on.
John's theory was correct. Slowly certain fixed objects appeared and some outlines that looked like mountains, and the boys could not repress their anxiety at the anticipated shore.
"Then we were right, after all," said Harry.
John smiled, as he replied: "I do not know; the calculations have not yet been made."
"I would like to know how our position can be found out from an examination of the sun," remarked George.
"That will require a long answer to explain fully but I shall try to answer it in a simple manner. The sailor takes an observation of the sun in two directions, namely, north and south, and east and west. You know, of course, that the sun moves north in the summer and south in the winter, and that the extreme southern point is in midwinter, Dec. 20: that in the spring, or March 20, it is directly above the equator, and in midsummer, or, on June 20, it is as far north as it can go."
"You mean," said George, "that it would be north of the equator."
"As we have the same calendar over the entire world, it is true everywhere. The difference is, of course, that summer and winter, and spring and autumn are reversed, north and south of the equator. All estimates as to locations are made by measuring angles."