“I’ll do as you wish,” replied the captain; “but I tell you it’s more than your friend deserves.”
“I will go in her,” said Mr McDonald.
“No, you can’t do that. I will send my own men; for what I know, you may delay the boat,” answered the captain.
“It matters not, provided Fraser and the lad return,” said Mr McTavish, who was inclined to conciliatory measures.
The captain now directed three of the hands to go in the smallest boat which was large enough for the purpose, while the rest were ordered to loose sails and heave up the anchor. While these precautions were going forward I observed the gentlemen watching the boat through their telescopes. She reached the shore, and after a short delay was seen returning.
I looked out anxiously for Mark, hoping that after the account I had received of the island that Mr Fraser would have brought him back. Great was my grief and disappointment when I did not see him in the boat. Still I hoped that the passengers would induce the captain to send a party on shore to look for him. I intended to ask Mr McTavish to obtain leave for me to go, for I knew that if Mark heard my voice shouting for him he would come out of his hiding-place.
No sooner had Mr Fraser stepped on board than the boat was hoisted up. On this I ran off to ask Mr McTavish to insist on the ship being delayed to allow of a search for Mark.
“We’ll do what we can, my laddie,” he answered; “though the captain doesn’t appear to be in the humour to grant any requests.”
As Mr Fraser greeted his friends, I heard him say that he had missed Mark, and supposed, after searching for him for some time, that he had joined one of our parties; and that at length he had made his way to the beach, having satisfied his hunger with some of the provisions we had left behind. It was night when he had come near the harbour; and as he knew the boat would have returned, he formed himself a nest under a bank with some tussack grass and slept soundly till daylight.
When he found that Mark had not returned, he was as eager as Mr McDonald to go in search of him, but all they could say would not move Captain Longfleet.