Heedless of the blazing sun--which, however, made their task very easy, lighting up, as it did, the clear waters below--they zigzagged for hours in all directions from the schooner, seeing below groves and trees of coral of the most wondrous tints, among which darted and played fish banded with gold, vermilion, and azure, silvery-sided, olive, green, and blue of the brightest and every tint. Great shells, almost as gay in colour, were slowly kept in motion by their inhabitants as they crawled over the surface of the many-hued rocks. Shoals of fish played amongst the moving seaweeds, and then flashed away like some brilliant silver firework as the shadow of the boat approached them, its shape being plainly seen on the sand below; and on every side new objects of beauty came into sight. Treasures of natural history there were of every kind, but not the treasure they sought; and at last, worn out with heat and disappointment, Mr Parkley proposed that they should return. "What an opportunity," thought Dutch, as, after a growling protest, Sam Oakum seated himself in the bottom of the boat and began viciously to cut off a wedge of tobacco--"what an opportunity we have given those on board for a rising, if there are any suspicious characters there." And then his heart leaped and his hand involuntarily sought his pistol as he thought of his wife and the danger to which she would be exposed. "Suppose," he thought, as he shaded his eyes with his hand, and gazed at the distant vessel, "those two scoundrels should assume the command, and set us at defiance, we could never get back on board." Me shuddered as these thoughts gained stronger power over him, and looked from one to the other; but it was evident that no such thoughts troubled them, for as the oars of the four sailors lazily dipped, and made the water flash and sparkle, he could see that his companions, listless with the heat, were leaning back and troubled more with disappointment about the failure. "Look here everybody," cried Sam, suddenly, in a voice that, heard in that wonderful solitude, made every one start. "I'm not beat, you know; not a bit of it. Them there ships is to be found--what's left of 'em-- and I'm going to find 'em." "I hope you are, Oakum," said the captain, quietly; "but don't boast. The first effort has not been a successful one." "I never said as I'd find 'em the first time," said Sam, sharply. "'Taint likely as a man's going to sail a ship thousands o' miles and put her right on the spot. You wait a bit."