Page:Barbour--Lost island.djvu/193

 "Well, let's see," observed the skipper, diving into a deep locker. "I 've got an old chart of the Pacific somewhere here. P'raps that will help you to remember. Ah, here it is!"

Captain Grummitt carefully spread the sheet on the cabin table, and with a pudgy forefinger indicated the position of Christmas Island.

"Now, you run your eye over that section," he said. "There's precious few places around there big enough to have a name, so it should n't be a difficult job."

"Here it is—Fanning Island," Dave announced.

"Umph!" said the skipper, re-scratching his pate. "That gives you your bearings, in a manner of speaking, but you know them two islands are n't quite as near to one another as they look on that chart. The next question is, how long had they passed Fanning before they hit the wreck?"

"I don't think he mentioned any definite time,