The Castaways of the Flag by Jules Verne

on its beaches, and perhaps flocks of birds, as we found
when we got to the shore at Rock Castle. We shall contrive to revictual, and
after a week or two, when we have had a rest and the captain has recovered his
strength, we could set out to discover a more hospitable coast. This boat is
sound and we have an excellent sailor to manage her. The rainy season is not
nearly due yet. We have lived through some storms already, and we should live
through more. Let this land, whatever it is, only give us some fresh
provisions, and then, with the help of God –"
     
                "Fritz,
dear," Jenny answered, clasping her husband's hands in her own, "you
must say all that to our companions. Let them hear you, and they will not lose
heart."
     
                "They
never have, for a moment, dear wife," said Fritz; "and if they ever
should falter, it is you, bravest and most capable of women, the English girl
of Burning Rock, who would give them hope once more!"
     
                All thought
as Fritz did of this brave Jenny. While they had been shut up in their cabins
it was from her that Dolly and Susan had been encouraged to resist despair.
     
                One advantage
this land seemed to have. It was not like New Switzerland, through whose waters
merchant vessels never passed. On the contrary, whether it were the southern
coast of Australia or Tasmania, or even an island in the archipelagoes of the
Pacific, its position would be marked in the naval charts.
     
                But even if
Captain Gould and his companions could entertain some hope of being picked up
there, they could not be otherwise than profoundly distressed by the thought of
the distance that separated them from New Switzerland—hundreds of miles, no
doubt, since the Flag had sailed steadily eastwards for a whole week.
     
                It was now
the 13th of October. Nearly a year had passed since the Unicorn had left
the island, whither she was due to return about this time. At Rock Castle, M.
and Mme. Zermatt, Ernest and Jack, Mr. and Mrs. Wolston and Hannah, were
counting the days and hours.
     
                In a few
weeks more, after her stay at Cape Town, the Unicorn would appear in New
Switzerland waters, and then the Zermatts and Wolstons would learn that their
missing dear ones had taken their passage in the Flag, which had not
been seen again. Could they doubt that she had perished with all hands in one
of the frequent storms that rage in the Indian Ocean? Would there be room for
hope that they would ever see her passengers again?
     
                All that was
in the future, however; the immediate present held quite enough formidable
possibilities to engage their attention.
     
                Ever since
Frank had pointed out the land, the boatswain had been steadily steering in a
northerly direction, not an easy task without a compass. The position indicated
by Frank was only approximate, and unfortunately the thick curtain veiled the
horizon line, which, from observers on the level of the sea, must still be ten
or twelve miles away.
     
                The oars had
been got out. Fritz and James were rowing with all the strength they could
exert. But in their state of exhaustion they could not lift the heavily loaded
boat, and it would take them the entire day to cover the distance which lay
between them and the shore.
     
                God grant that
the wind might not thwart all their efforts! On the whole it would be better if
the calm endured till evening. Should the breeze blow from the north, the boat
would be carried far back from these waters.
     
                By midday it
was questionable whether more than a couple of miles had been done since
morning. The boatswain suspected that a current was setting in the opposite
direction.
     
                About two
o'clock in the afternoon John Block, who was standing up,