“We have got a stiffish breeze, and it will carry us the sooner to the shore, if it does not come on to blow harder,” answered the mate. “But do you and Miss Alice sit quiet; the weather does not look threatening, and if the wind brings us some rain we may be thankful for it.”
“But the wind may throw the surf on the shore, and we may find it dangerous to pass through it,” observed Walter.
“Time enough to think about that when we get there,” said the mate. “Either there was no land in sight yesterday, and we were mistake when we fancied we formerly saw it, or a mist hanging about it hid it from our view.”
“Perhaps we see it when daylight come back,” observed Nub; “and dat just begin to break astern.”
The dawn gradually increased. Nub kept eagerly looking out ahead. “I see someting!” he exclaimed suddenly. “It either a rock or a boat.”
“That’s not a rock,” said the mate, “or it would be hidden as the sea washes over it.”
“Den dat a boat,” cried Nub. “Can it be de cap’en’s?”
“Our father’s boat?” cried Walter and Alice in chorus.
“It may be,” said the mate; “but I think not. We shall soon know.”
Eagerly they all watched the boat.