And now they saw the mast-head light of the Kansas. Boyle had also

caused the side lights to be slung to davits, and the white, red, and

green lamps made a triangle in the obscurity, though its base seemed to

be strangely near sea level. Even a big vessel like the Kansas shrinks

to small proportions when she is a mile or more distant at night. She

becomes indivisible, a mere atom in the immensity of the black waters;

it demands an effort of the imagination to credit her with wide decks,

streets of cabins, and cavernous holds. In one respect the exhibition

of the port and starboard lights served them most excellently. Guanaco

Hill was directly astern of the ship; they had absolutely no trouble in

maintaining a straight line for their destination, all that was

necessary being to keep the mast-head light in the exact center of the

green and red points.

Suarez, somewhat weak from his knock on the head over night, was not

equal to the strain of continued exertion, so Elsie and Gray took two

oars each, and allowed their companion to rest. When, judging by the

surrounding hills, they were half way across the inlet, Gray stooped

low in the boat, struck a match, and looked at his watch. It was long

after one o'clock! There could be no doubt whatever that the dawn

would find them far from the ship, no matter how fortunate they might

be in their further adventures.

It was well for Elsie that she had learnt how to scull when in her

teens, and that her muscles were in fair condition owing to her skill

at tennis. Even so, she feared that she could never hold out against

the sustained stress of that pull across the bay. The heavy boat,

intended to be rowed by six men, had the added burthen of four canoes.

It was back-breaking work; but she neither faltered nor sighed until

Suarez said: "Let me take your place now, señorita. In ten minutes we shall be at

the mouth of the creek, though heaven only knows how we shall find it."

He did not exaggerate in thus expressing his fear. Time and again they

neared the shore, only to hear the tidal swell breaking heavily on the

rocks. The lights of the Kansas, fully three miles away, could only

tell them that they were in the neighborhood of the place where

Courtenay had last been seen in this identical boat. The least

divergence from the line given by the position of the ship meant a

difference of hundreds of yards at such a distance, and there was an

ominous lightening of the gloom, accompanied by a dimming of the stars,

when Gray hit on the idea that the powerful current had probably

carried them a good deal southward of the point they were aiming at.

He suggested that they should boldly pull a quarter of a mile or so

against the tide and then try their luck. Their progress, of course,

became slower than ever, and Elsie began to despair that they would

ever find the mouth of the stream which ran through the cleft in the

hill, when she suddenly saw the luminous crescents which heralded the

sunrise over the inner mountain range. They could not be visible

unless there was a break in the cliffs in that locality.




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