第493章 MR. CAPTAIN AND THE NYMPH.(37)

"Attend to my directions," the Captain shouted back, as he drifted away into the darkness.

Mr. Duncalf--violently agitated for the first time in his life--took leave of his superior officer, with a singular mixture of solemnity and politeness, in these words:

"The Lord have mercy on your soul! I wish you good-evening."

VIII.

ALONE in the boat, the Captain looked with a misgiving mind at the flashing of the volcano on the main island.

If events had favored him, he would have removed Aimata to the shelter of the ship on the day when he saw the emptied basin on the lake. But the smoke of the Priest's sacrifice had been discovered by the chief; and he had dispatched two canoes with instructions to make inquiries. One of the canoes had returned;the other was kept in waiting off the cape, to place a means of communicating with the main island at the disposal of the Priest.

The second shock of earthquake had naturally increased the alarm of the chief. He had sent messages to the Priest, entreating him to leave the island, and other messages to Aimata suggesting that she should exert her influence over her father, if he hesitated.