come.

As the _Coral_ sped forward--sometimes on the long, sloping crest of
an immense swell, and then again in the valley between--the captain
saw and thought of nothing else but the little island ahead, which was
slowly rising out of the ocean. He had discovered that it was circular
in shape, quite small, and fringed with vegetation. This corresponded,
in a general way, with the description given by the sailor in the
hospital; but there are hundreds of other islands in the South Seas to
which the same description will apply, and it was not impossible that
the _Coral_ was many a long league astray.

"When I was on the island, ten years ago," said Grebbens, "I found
remains of a ship that had been wrecked there but a short time before.
There was a portion of the mast, which we managed to erect by scooping
a deep hole in the beach and then packing the sand about the base. On
the top of this we kept our signal of distress flying, in the hope of
catching the notice of some passing vessel, as was the case after a
long while. It was my jacket which fluttered from the top of that
mast, and the old garment has been blown away long ago; but I don't
know any reason why the pole itself shouldn't be standing, and if it
is, you will find it on the right of the entrance to the lagoon."

The island, it will be understood, was an atoll--that is, a circular
fringe of coral, with a lagoon of the sea inside which was entered
through a comparatively narrow passage from the ocean. The atoll to
which the old sailor referred was extensive enough to furnish fresh
water and fruit, while at the entrance, and in other places, there was
a sufficient depth of sand to afford secure "anchorage" for the pole
which they erected. Peering through the spy-glass, Captain Bergen
could see the white line where the sea beat against the coral shores
and was rolled back again in foam. And while he was gazing, his
practiced eye detected a gap in the line of breakers--that is, a spot
where the white foam did not show itself. This must necessarily be the
opening through which the ocean flowed into the lagoon within the
island. Since it met with no opposition, it swept inward with a
smooth, grand sweep, which proved that the water was deep and without
any obstruction.

"Suppose he deceived me?"

Captain Bergen asked himself the question while he was scanning the
island.

It was the first time the thought suggested that maybe the sailor,
dying in the Bosto