current here."

"Well, we shall see."

They sat listening till, growing fidgety, Steve turned to lean over the
stern and take hold of the rope which held the beluga. The great
fish-like creature yielded to the drag and came close up, but its head
was hardly discernible, and it looked so weird and strange that the boy
loosed his hold with a shudder, expecting that it would float away. But
it remained stationary for a few moments, and then, urged by the
current, rubbed heavily against the boat's side, imperceptibly altering
its position by dragging round the stern.

After listening patiently for some time, the captain drew a little
compass from his pocket and placed it beside him on the thwart, waiting
till it was steady, when he exclaimed in quite a startled tone:

"Which way were we pulling, my men?"

"About due west, sir."

"But the boat's head lies south, and we have been going right away from
the steamer. Here, pull hard starboard, backwater port!" he cried; and
as the oars dipped he bent down and watched the compass till he found
the boat's head pointing north-east, when he shouted, "All together:
give way!"

It was a relief to feel that something was being done to extricate them
from their awkward predicament, and the men pulled hard for the next ten
minutes or so, when, at a word from Captain Marsham, they easied, and a
fresh howl was sent forth to penetrate the fog. But this had no better
result than the last, and once more the order was given to pull and
obeyed with fresh vigour, when Steve suddenly leaped up.

"I heard it then," he said.

"Hold hard!" cried Captain Marsham, and the oars hung dripping over the
side. "Heard what, my lad?"

"The steamer's whistle, quite plainly."

There was a dead silence at this as all listened, but not a sound
reached them but the drip, drip, drip of the water from the blades of
the oars.

"Mistaken, I'm afraid, Steve, my lad," said the captain. "Any one of
you hear the whistle?"

There was no reply.

"Give way, my lads."

Splash went the oars, and at that moment Steve cried excitedly:

"There it is again, right astern!"

"Nonsense, boy!" said the captain;--"imagination. We should have heard
it too. Pull, my lads, pull."

The men dragged at their oars, and Steve sank down in his place feeling
abashed, but perfectly certain all the same that he had heard the
whistle. At the end of a few minutes the captain said kindly:

"It's very easy to be d