f possibly an American whaler were
descried a long distance to the northward, and a full-rigged ship was
detected closer in, and further to the eastward. But no sign of the
_Polynesia_ was discovered through the powerful binocular glasses
with which Captain Bergen swept the horizon. There was strong hope, in
spite of this, that she would be seen before sunset, and the _Coral_
held to her course toward the southwest, not only for that day and
night, but for the two succeeding ones. But it is useless to dwell
upon the search made by the smaller vessel, which was without the
faintest glimmer of success.

Captain Bergen and Mate Storms did their utmost to undo the wrong act
of their sailors, but at the end of the third day they held an anxious
consultation as to what was the right course left to pursue. They had
given up hope of meeting the _Polynesia_ except by chasing her all the
way to Japan, they having learned that Tokio was her destination.

Should the _Coral_ follow her there, or first fulfil its own destiny
in the Paumotu Islands? This was the all-important matter to be
settled.

When a man makes a great invention or discovery, his first dread is
that some one else will anticipate him and gather to himself all the
glory and profit. This had been a constant fear in the case of the
captain and mate of the schooner _Coral_ ever since they began their
preparations for the journey to the South Seas. It cost them a pang of
dread when, therefore, they headed the schooner about in the hunt for
the steamer, for, as will be readily understood, the apprehension of
which we have spoken intensifies the nearer one gets to the goal.

There were other considerations which entered into the question as to
whether they should go on or turn about. Inez Hawthorne had, as might
have been expected, adapted herself to her new position as passenger
on the schooner, and ran hither and thither at will, just as she did
on the _Polynesia_, and she climbed all over the captain and mate, as
if they were Captain Strathmore and his officer, or some of the
passengers.

She occasionally expressed a longing to see the grizzled old
sea-captain, whom she called her second, or new "papa," but there was
no one else for whom she particularly longed. Her affection was
distributed so equally and spontaneously that among several hundred it
could not be very profound. Only in the case of the brave old Captain
Strathmore was it deep and steadfast.

It w