Chapter 25 - Page 2

are heard. Pray
Heaven for a wind, dearest Miss Effingham, pray Heaven for a wind!"

Eve silently, but fervently did pray, while the young man gave all his
attention again to the boat.--As soon as they were clear of the lee of the
ship, the baffling puffs returned, and there were several minutes of a
steady little breeze, during which the boat sensibly moved away from the
noises of the ship. On the reef, however, the clamour still continued, and
the gentlemen were soon satisfied that the Arabs had stationed themselves
along the whole line of rocks, wherever the latter were bare at high
water, as was now nearly the case, to the northward as well as to the
southward of the opening.

"The tide is still entering by the inlet," said Paul, "and we have its
current to contend with. It is not strong, but a trifle is important at a
moment like this!"

"Would it not be possible to reach the bank inside of us, and to shove the
boat ahead by means of these light spars?" asked Mr. Sharp.

The suggestion was a good one; but Paul was afraid the noise in the water
might reach the Arabs, and expose the party to their fire, as the utmost
distance between the reef and the inner bank at that particular spot did
not exceed a hundred fathoms. At length another puff of air from the land
pressed upon their sails, and the water once more rippled beneath the
bows of the boat. Paul's heart beat hard, and as he managed the
tiller-lines, he strained his eyes uselessly in order to penetrate the
massive-looking darkness.

"Surely," he said to Mr. Sharp, who stood constantly at his elbow, "these
cries are directly ahead of us! We are steering for the Arabs!"

"We have got wrong in the dark then. Lose not a moment to keep the boat
away, for here to leeward there are noises."

As all this was self-evident, though confused in his reckoning, Paul put
up the helm, and the boat fell off nearly dead before the wind. Her motion
being now comparatively rapid, a few minutes produced an obvious change in
the direction of the different groups of clamorous Arabs, though they also
brought a material lessening in the force of the air.

"I have it!" said Paul, grasping his companion almost convulsively by the
arm. "We are at the inlet, and heading, I trust, directly through it! You
hear the cries on our right; they come from the end of the northern reef,
while these on our left are from the end of the southern. The sounds from
the ship, the direction of the land breeze, our distance--all confirm it,
and Providence again befriends us!"

"It will be a fearful error should we be mistaken!"

"We cannot be deceived, since