Soon another schooner loomed up in the moist air of the east wind, and, when the hull was visible, Mr. Dearborn approached Nina and said:
"Would you oblige me, madame, by allowing me to look through your glasses?"
"Certainly," said Nina; "they belong to the ship—not to me."
Dearborn took a long look at the approaching vessel. The North Star had been described to him as having a peculiar cut-away bow, and the vessel coming across their track had a perpendicular bow.
Nina then looked through the glasses intently, and for a moment they stood beside each other.
"I wonder why all the vessels seem to be crossing our track, instead of going in our direction," she said to quiet-looking Mr. Dearborn.
"I don't know much about sailing, miss. But I know that vessels can't sail straight into the wind. They seesaw backward and forward, first one way and then the other. How they get up against the wind I could never understand. They are like lawyers, I think. They see a point ahead of them, and they just beat about the bush till they get there. Some of these things are hard to take in."
Nina smiled.
"A good many of these vessels," added Mr. Dearborn, while he watched his fair companion, "are going to Oswego."
"Oh, indeed!" said Nina, unconsciously brightening.