And for
a buoy too it was exceedingly bright and shiny, reflecting the red rays
of the setting sun as strongly as if its surface was crystal or polished
metal!
"Call Mr. Marston on deck at once!" cried the Captain, his voice
betraying unwonted excitement as he put the glass again to his eye.
Marston, thoroughly worn out by his incessant anxiety during the day,
had been just carried below by his friends, and they were now trying to
make him take a little refreshment and repose. But the Captain's order
brought them all on deck like a flash.
They found the whole crew gazing in one direction, and, though speaking
in little more than whispers, evidently in a state of extraordinary
excitement.
What could all this mean? Was there any ground for hope? The thought
sent a pang of delight through Marston's wildly beating heart that
almost choked him.
The Captain beckoned to the Club men to take a place on the bridge
beside himself. They instantly obeyed, all quietly yielding them a
passage.
The vessel was now only about a quarter of a mile distant from the
object and therefore near enough to allow it to be distinguished without
the aid of a glass.
What! The flag bore the well known Stars and Stripes!
An electric shudder of glad surprise shot through the assembled crowd.
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