Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/121

 DICK'S PROMOTION. 95 are sure to corne upon some part of the American coast" " Do your best, Dîck, to let us get ashore somewhere." " Never fear, madam/' he answered ; " as we get nearer land we shall be almost sure to fall în with a cruiser which will put us înto the right track. If the wind does but remain în the north-west, and allow us to carry plenty of saîl, we shall get on famously." He spoke wîth the cheery confidence of a good sailor who knows the good shîp beneath hîs feet. He had moved off a few steps to go and take the helm, when Mrs. Weldon, calling him back, remînded hîm that he had not yet ascertained the true position of the schooner. Dick con- fessed that ît ought to be done at once, and going to the captain's cabin brought out the chart upon which the ill- fated commander had marked the bearingstheeveningbefore. According to this dead-reckoning they wcre in lat. 43° 35', S., and long. 164° 13', W.; and as the schooner had made next to no progress during the last twenty-four evcntful hours, the entry might fairly be accepted as representing approximately their présent position. To the lady's inexperienced eye, as she bent over the outspread chart, ît seemed that the land, as represented by the brown patch which depîcted the continent of South America extending like a barrier between two océans from Cape Hom to Columbia, was, after ail, not so very far dis- tant ; the wîde space of the Pacific was not so broad but that ît would be quîckly traversed. •* Oh, we shall soon be on shore ! *' she said. But Dîck knew better. He had acquaintancc enough wîth the scale upon which the chart was constructed to be aware that the " Pilgrim " herself would hâve becn a speck lîke a microscopic infusoria on the vast surface of that sea, and that hundreds and hundreds of wear}'^ miles separated her from the coast. No tîme was to be lost Contrary wînds had ceased to blow ; a fresh north-westerly breeze had sprung up, and the àrri^ or curl-clouds overhead indicated that for some tîme at least the direction of the wind would be unchanged.