g her,
and cutting her off. An hour's chase brought them in sight of the land.
It was a low, uninviting shore, lined with a dense belt of mangrove
bushes, a few tall palms appearing here and there above them; then the
ground rose slightly, with some ranges of blue hills in the distance.
As the sun rose, a mist was drawn up which floated just above the water
and shut out the lower branches of the mangrove-trees, though their
tops, forming a wavy dark line, could just be seen above it. None of
the officers of the _Archer_ had been on the coast before, and as she
had no pilot, it was necessary to approach it with caution. The lead
was therefore kept going. The schooner stood boldly on.

"The fellows will, I am afraid, run her on shore, if they can find no
other means of escaping," observed the captain, after scrutinising the
chase and the coast she was approaching through his glass.

"We shall have her, she can't escape us, that's one comfort," cried Jack
Rogers.

On flew the schooner. The wind freshened somewhat. Suddenly she
entered the belt of mist. Everybody on board the brig rubbed their
eyes. Where was she? Not a vestige of her was to be seen. As they
approached the land, the roar of the surf on the shore reached their
ears. There could be little doubt that the schooner had been run on
shore, and would probably soon be knocked to pieces, while her crew had
made their escape to the land. Captain Grant was anxious to stand in as
close as he could.

"By the deep nine," sang out one of the men in the chains.

"By the mark seven," soon repeated another.

To approach nearer would not have been prudent. The canvas was
therefore flattened in, and the brig's head was once more turned to
seaward. Scarcely had she hauled her wind, than the sun having risen
high above the land, the mist lifted, and the whole line of coast
fringed with mangrove bushes, and here and there with a white belt of
sand, appeared in sight. But the chase, where was she? Not a sign of
her appeared on the shore, while neither to the north nor to the south
was she to be seen. Jack looked at Adair, and Adair looked at Jack, and
together they discussed the matter with Alick, but neither of the three
could offer any satisfactory explanation of the matter. Captain Grant
and the rest of the officers appeared equally puzzled. As the brig
stood closer in-shore there was a chance of the mystery being solved.
The hands in the chains were ke