"
"Oh no, Captain Littlepage, I hope not," said I, trying to
soothe his feelings.
There was a silence in the schoolhouse, but we could hear the
noise of the water on a beach below. It sounded like the strange
warning wave that gives notice of the turn of the tide. A late
golden robin, with the most joyful and eager of voices, was singing
close by in a thicket of wild roses.
VI
The Waiting Place
"HOW DID YOU manage with the rest of that rough voyage on the
Minerva?" I asked.
"I shall be glad to explain to you," said Captain Littlepage,
forgetting his grievances for the moment. "If I had a map at hand
I could explain better. We were driven to and fro 'way up toward
what we used to call Parry's Discoveries, and lost our bearings.
It was thick and foggy, and at last I lost my ship; she drove on a
rock, and we managed to get ashore on what I took to be a barren
island, the few of us that were left alive. When she first struck,
the sea was somewhat calmer than it had been, and most of the crew,
against orders, manned the long-boat and put off in a hurry, and
were never heard of more.
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