The Argosy, Vol. XXIV, No. 1 — page 137: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE MUTINY ON THE FLYING CLOUD. 137 western side of the mountain, to reach which will consume at least another half hour. ‘Then there would be wood to collect, occupying say another half hour, making a total of at least two hours and a half before such a signal could be rendered visible. And perhaps, after all, those on board the ship might not see it, or, seeing it, might not understand its meaning—might suppose it to be nothing more than a fire built by the natives, and so pass on their way. No ; that would not do—the risk of failure would be too great. What then? ‘There remained nothing, in Captain Blake’s opinion, but to pursue the stranger. She could not, he thought, be going more than five knots, judging by the strength of the breeze and the momentary glimpse of her; whilst the raft, light as she was and with the wind well over her quarter, would go nearly or quite seven. The strange sail was about twelve miles off ; therefore, if he could over- haul her at the rate of about two knots an hour, he ought to be near enough to attract her attention by sunrise. But he must bear up in chase at once, there was no time to waste in running ashore to make known his intentions; and as for help, he wanted none, he.was quite able to manage the raft single handed. Moreover, he began to suspect that Henderson would prove to be right in that suggestion of his respecting a change of weather, which made it all the more important that the strange sail should be overhauled before the change should occur. These reflections passed through the skipper’s brain in a single moment— not perhaps quite so definitely as here set forth, but to the same purpose—and in the next he jammed his helm hard up, eased off the sheet, and bore away upon a course which he conjectured would enable him to intercept the stranger. . For a few minutes after the disappearance of the moon Blake was able, or fancied he was able, still to distinguish the canvas of the chase looming up vaguely like a dark, shapeless shadow upon the horizon ; but either the sky grew darker in that quarter or the weather thickened, for he was soon obliged to admit that he could seen it no longer. But that circumstance gave him not the least concern; he had set his course by a star, and he knew that so long as he continued to steer for it, so long would the course of the raft converge toward that of the stranger. He was concerned, however, to notice later on that not only was the weather thickening overhead, necessitating a frequent changing of the star by which he was following his course, but also that the wind was becoming unsteady. Sometimes it fell away to such an extent as to cause the raft’s sail to flap heavily as she rolled over the ridges of the swell, and anon breezed up quite fresh again, but with a change of perhaps a couple of points in its direction, the change generally being of such a character as to bring the wind forward more on his starboard beam. * Gradually the haze so thickened overhead that such stars as were not already obscured grew dim and soon disappeared altogether, leaving the soli- tary man dependent only upon the somewhat fickle wind for a guide by which CoORmmicloooks |