great, the care induced by their position so
terrible, that no attempt was made to obtain food or water till quite
twenty-four hours must have passed, and then, utterly worn out with the
awful explosions, as of a cannonade going on, one by one all fell
asleep, save the captain and Mark, who sat there in the darkness talking
in whispers, and listening to the distant sounds.

"We are drifting slowly in some current, Mark," said the captain at
last.

"How do you know, father?"

"The reports are more distant. If we could but have light once more."

It was a weary time before the captain's desire was granted, and the
first harbingers of that coming light were forty-eight hours after the
first embarkation in the cutter. They came in the shape of a pleasant
cool breeze which it was delicious to breathe, and by slow degrees there
was first a faint light, then a glow as if the glare of the burning
mountains were shining through, and then a joyful shout of thankfulness
arose from officers and crew, for the light was from the rising sun, and
they could see blue dancing water, and then, with one bound, they were
in broad day, with a great black curtain riding slowly away from them
across the sea.

Away south of the sun there was a huge black mountain of vapour quite
twenty miles away, and evidently covering the island, while the cutter
was drifting slowly farther and farther away in the light current in
which she had been caught.

As for those on board, after they had each in his own way, and then
collectively at the captain's wish, returned thanks for their
preservation, the first thing to be done was to remove the blackening
ashes from their faces, while Jimpny swept pretty well half a ton of the
curious volcanic dust from the cutter's decks.

"What now?" said the major. "Back to the island to see what damage has
been done?"

"No," said the captain; "we have a stout little well-tried vessel
beneath our feet, and the next land I hope to tread is that at
Singapore."

There was no further difficulty in this project, for the wind was
favourable, and the dark cloud that overhung the island soon sank below
the horizon, though during the following night a distant sound, as of
cannonading, told that the explosion was still going on.

Captain Strong's navigation during the next few days was a good deal by
guesswork, and consisted in making all the headway he could westward.
At the end of the fifth day, however, a large st