"We haven't been boarded
by any seas lately."
"No, I think we have gone through the most dangerous part of it,"
agreed Mr. De Vere. "But we're still far from being out of danger.
There is a very heavy sea on."
They waited and hoped. The throb of the engine became a monotonous hum
and whir, and the crash of the waves like the boom of some big drum.
Rob, looking through one of the cabin dead-eyes, exclaimed:
"See!"
The others looked out.
"It's getting morning," spoke Jerry, with a sigh of relief. "The night
is almost gone."
Gradually it became lighter, the pale gray dawn stealing in through
the thick bull's-eyes, and revealing the rather pale faces of the
young derelict hunters. They looked out on a heaving waste of waters,
the big waves rising and falling like some gigantic piece of
machinery.
"The wind is dying down," announced Ned in a low voice. Somehow it
seemed as if they ought to talk in whispers.
"Yes, I think it will stop when the sun comes up," said Mr. De Vere.
"It looks as if it would be clear."
In the east there appeared a rosy light. A golden beam shot up to the
sky, tinting the crests of the waves. Then the rim of Old Sol
appeared, to cheer the voyagers.
"Look there!" suddenly called Jerry, pointing straight at the disk of
the sun, which, every second, was becoming larger.
They all looked and saw, laboring in the waves, about a mile away, a
powerful tug, that seemed to be following them.
CHAPTER XXVI
RIVAL SEARCHERS
"WHAT boat is that?" asked Ned.
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