Page:The crater; or, Vulcan's peak.djvu/165

OR, VULCAN S PEAK. 159 superseded the necessity of his labouring much to keep himself supplied with food, he had formed a plan of cruis ing off the shoals, for days at a time, in the hope of falling in with something that was passing, and which might carry him back to the haunts of men. No vessel would or could come in sight of the crater, so long as the existence of the reefs was known ; but the course steered by the Rancocus was a proof that ships did occasionally pass in that quarter of the Pacific, Mark had indulged in no visionary hopes on this subject, for he knew he might keep in the offing a twelvemonth and see nothing ; but an additional twenty- four hours might realize all his hopes. The weather, however, on this his first experiment, did not encourage him to remain out the whole night. On the contrary, by the time the crater was in sight, Mark thought he had not seen a more portentous-looking sky since he had been on the Reef. There was a fiery redness in the atmosphere that alarmed him, and he would have rejoiced to be at home, in order to secure his slock within the cra ter. From the appearances, he anticipated another tem pest with its flood. It is true, it was not the season when the last occurred, but the climate might admit of these changes. The difference between summer and winter was very trifling on that reef, and a hurricane, or a gale, was as likely to occur in the one as in the other. Just as the Bridget was passing the two buoys by which the ship-channel had been marked, her sail flapped. This was a bad omen, for it betokened a shift of wind, which rarely happened, unless it might be from six months to six months, without being the precursor of some sort of a storm. Mark was still two miles from the Reef, and the little wind there was soon came ahead. Luckily, it was smooth water, and very little air sufficed to force that light craft ahead, while there was usually a current setting from that point towards the crater. The birds, moreover, seemed uneasy, the air being filled with them, thousands flying over the boat, around which they wheeled, screaming and appa rently terrified. At first Mark ascribed this unusual be haviour of his feathered neighbours to the circumstance of their now seeing a boat for the commencement of such an acquaintance; but, recollecting how often he had passed