having finished the
reconnaissance, was making for the ship.

It amused Godfrey to follow her in the field of his glasses. He saw her
little by little reveal herself in clearer outline, he saw her grow on
the surface of the sea, and then give definite shape to her smoke
wreath, as it mingled with a few curls of steam on the clear depth of
the horizon.

She was an excellent little vessel, of immense speed, and as she came
along at full steam, she was soon visible to the naked eye. Towards
eleven o'clock, the wash from her bow as she tore through the waves was
perfectly distinct, and behind her the long furrow of foam gradually
growing wider and fainter like the tail of a comet.

At a quarter-past eleven, Captain Turcott hailed and boarded the
_Dream_.

"Well, captain, what news?" asked Godfrey, shaking his hand.

"Ah! Good morning, Mr. Godfrey!"

"And the breakers?"

"Only show!" answered Captain Turcott. "We saw nothing suspicious, our
men must have been deceived, but I am rather surprised at that, all the
same."

"We are going ahead then?" said Godfrey.

"Yes, we are going on now, but I must first take an observation."

"Shall we get the launch on board?" asked the mate.

"No," answered the captain, "we may want it again. Leave it in tow!"

The captain's orders were executed, and the launch, still under steam,
dropped round to the stern of the _Dream_.

Three-quarters of an hour afterwards, Captain Turcott, with his sextant
in his hand, took the sun's altitude, and having made his observation,
he gave the course. That done, having given a last look at the horizon,
he called the mate, and taking him into his cabin, the two remained
there in a long consultation.

The day was a very fine one. The sails had been furled, and the _Dream_
steamed rapidly without their help. The wind was very slight, and with
the speed given by the screw there would not have been enough to fill
them.

Godfrey was thoroughly happy. This sailing over a beautiful sea, under a
beautiful sky, could anything be more cheering, could anything give more
impulse to thought, more satisfaction to the mind? And it is scarcely to
be wondered at that Professor Tartlet also began to recover himself a
little. The state of the sea did not inspire him with immediate
inquietude, and his physical being showed a little reaction. He tried to
eat, but without taste or appetite. Godfrey would have had him take off
the life-belt which encircled his