He had lighted the red
starboard lamp--the port lamp was missing--and hung a lantern at the
head of the foremast. Virginia sat beside him.
For an hour Dan had been absorbed in the business of manoeuvring his
sodden charge. Waterlogged as she was it was no easy matter to swing
her out of the current and head her upon a course. But at last he had
succeeded. Having but one sail it could not have been better placed
than amidships. Placed in the mainmast it was easier to maintain
steerage way and at the same time it served to push the derelict
forward. Turning to the girl, he laughed triumphantly; and she, who
had begun to be almost jealous of the derelict, inasmuch as it had
taken so much of his attention, smiled politely, if faintly.
"And now," said Dan, sitting beside her, with his hands on the lower
spokes of the battered wheel, "we are homeward bound. The stars have
told me a great deal. See them all. Over there are Regulus and his
sickle, and in the northwest you see Queen Vega. There is Ursa Major
up there, nearly overhead. There's the Little Bear north of it; and
still north is the good old North Star. We are going straight for
land, Miss Howland."
"You are awfully clever, Captain Merrithew."
Dan looked at her quickly. She was smiling mockingly.
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