s of the
tabooed island.

The one chance for his life was to conceal what he had done, until the
ship could be got out of the harbor, and then (if no harm had come to
him in the interval) to rescue him after nightfall. It was decided to
spread the report that he had really been taken ill, and that he was
confined to his cabin. The chief's son, whose heart the Captain's
kindness had won, could be trusted to do this, and to keep the secret
faithfully for his good friend's sake.

Toward noon, the next day, they attempted to take the ship to sea, and
failed for want of wind. Hour by hour, the heat grew more oppressive. As
the day declined, there were ominous appearances in the western heaven.
The natives, who had given some trouble during the day by their anxiety
to see the Captain, and by their curiosity to know the cause of the
sudden preparations for the ship's departure, all went ashore together,
looking suspiciously at the sky, and reappeared no more. Just at
midnight, the ship (still in her snug berth inside the reef) suddenly
trembled from her keel to her uppermost masts. Mr. Duncalf, surrounded
by the startled crew, shook his knotty fist at the island as if he could
see it in the dark. "My lads, what did I tell you? That was a shock of
earthquake."

With the morning the threatening aspect of the weather unexpectedly
disappeared. A faint hot breeze from the land, just enough to give
the ship steerage-way, offered Mr. Duncalf a chance of getting to sea.
Slowly the _Fortuna_, with the mate himself at the wheel, half sailed,
half drifted into the open ocean. At a distance of barely two miles from
the island the breeze was felt no more, and the vessel lay becalmed for
the rest of the day.

At night the men waited their orders, expecting to be sent after their
Captain in one of the boats. The intense darkness, the airless heat, and
a second shock of earthquake (faintly felt in the ship at her present
distance from the land) warned the mate to be cautious. "I smell
mischief in the air," said Mr. Duncalf. "The Captain must wait till I am
surer of the weather."

Still no change came with the new day. The dead calm continued, and the
airless heat. As the day declined, another ominous appearance became
visible. A thin line of smoke was discovered through the telescope,
ascending from the topmost peak of the mountain on the main island. Was
the volcano threatening an eruption? The mate, for one, entertained no
doubt of i