high, which assisted him in keeping his course.
As he approached the mainland he made out the fort, and steering
directly for it, passed safely through Hogfish Cut.

When he was within half a mile of this fort, he headed the boat to the
north-west. It was still eighteen miles to Hamilton, the capital of the
islands; but he had a fair wind, and the boat made about five miles an
hour. Christy still slept, and the skipper did not wake him. It was
daylight when he was abreast of Wreck Hill, and there was no further
difficulty in the navigation. It was half-past eight when he ran up to
a pier where he had kept his boat in former days. There were plenty of
just such crafts as the Eleuthera, and no attention was paid to her as
she passed along the Front-street docks. The pier at which he made his
landing was in a retired locality. He lowered the sails, and had made
everything snug on board before he called his companion.

"Half-past eight, Christophe," said he at the door of the cuddy.

"Half-past eight!" exclaimed Christy, springing out of his berth on the
floor. "Where are we now, M. Rubempre?"

"We are in Hamilton harbor; and if you will come out of the cuddy, you
will find yourself in the midst of flowers and green trees," replied the
skipper with a smile.

"I must have slept six hours," said Christy, rubbing his eyes as he
crawled out of the cuddy.

The scenery around him was certainly very beautiful, and he gazed upon
it in silence for a few minutes. It seemed to him just as though he had
waked in fairyland. He had cruised in the vicinity of the islands, but
he had never been very near the shore before. Though he had been in
Alabama, and seen the shores of the Gulf States, he had never beheld any
region that seemed so lovely to him. He had been on shore at Nassau, but
only on the wharves, and had hardly seen the beauties of the island.

"Why didn't you call me before, M. Rubempre?" asked he, when he had
taken in the view from the pier.

"Because I thought your sleep would do you more good than the view of
the shore, which you will have plenty of opportunities to see before we
leave," replied the detective. "But we must begin our work, for we have
no time to lose. I arranged with Captain Chantor to pick us up to-morrow
night at about the point where we embarked in the boat. In the mean time
he will sail around the islands, though the Chateaugay will not come
near enough to be seen from the shore."

"What will y