Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/50

 the evening after supper Briant told the bigger boys the result of his exploration. Briefly it was as follows: to the east, beyond the forest zone, he had distinctly seen a line of water extending from north to south. That this was the horizon of the sea appeared indubitable. Hence it was on an island and not on a continent that the yacht had been wrecked.

Gordon and the others received the information with considerable excitement. What! They were on an island and deprived of every means of leaving it! Their scheme of finding a road to the eastward would have to be abandoned! They would have to wait till a ship came in sight! Could it be true that this was their only chance of rescue?

"But was not Briant mistaken? " asked Donagan.

"Did you not mistake a bank of clouds for the sea?" asked Cross.

"No," answered Briant. "l am certain I made no mistake. What I saw was a line of water, and it formed the horizon." "How far off was it?" asked Wilcox. "About six miles from the cape."

"And beyond that," asked Webb, "were there no mountains, no elevated ground?"

"No I Nothing but the sky."

Briant was so positive that it was not reasonable to retain the least doubt in the matter.

But Donagan, as was always the case when he argued with Briant, continued obstinate.

"And I repeat that Briant has made a mistake. And until we have seen it with our own eyes— "