The boy made no reply, but strained his eyes again, to see darkness everywhere that appeared to be growing darker moment by moment, except in one spot, evidently where the land lay, and there a dull yellowish light glared out that seemed to keep on winking at them derisively, now fairly bright, now disappearing all at once, as the lantern revolved. "Hold hard!" whispered the lieutenant, and the men lay on their oars, with the boat gradually slackening its speed till it rose and fell, rocking slowly on the choppy sea, and the eye-like lantern gave another derisive wink twice, and then seemed to shut itself up tight. "It's of no use to pull, Burnett," whispered the lieutenant. "We may be going right away. See anything, my lads?" "No, sir," came in a low murmur, and the culprit who had gone to sleep sat and shivered as he thought of the "wigging," as he termed it, that would be his when he went back on board the gunboat; and as the boat rocked now in regular motion the darkness seemed to grow more profound, while the silence to the midshipman seemed to be awful. He was miserable too with disappointment, for he felt so mixed up with the expedition that it seemed to him as if he was in fault, and that when they returned he would have to share in the blame that Captain Glossop would, as he termed it, "lay on thick." "Oh, Mr Bill Smith," he said to himself, "just wait till we get back!" And then a reaction took place. "What's the good?" he thought. "Poor fellow! He'll get it hot enough without me saying a word. But how could a fellow go to sleep at a time like this?" "It's all up, Burnett," came in a whisper, close to his ear. "The milk's spilt, and it's no use crying over it, but after all these preparations who could have expected such a mishap as that?--What's the matter with you?" he added sharply. "You'll have me overboard." For the midshipman had suddenly sprung up from where he sat, nearly overbalancing his superior officer as he gripped him tightly by the chest with the right hand, and without replying stood rigidly pointing over the side with his left, his arm stretched right across the lieutenant's breast. "You don't mean--you can see--Bravo, boy!--Pull, my lads, for all you know." As he spoke he dropped back into his seat, tugging hard with his right hand at one of the rudder-lines, with the result that as the cutter glided once more rapidly over the little waves she made a sharp curve to starboard, and then as the line was once more loosened, glided on straight ahead for something dim and strange that stood out before them like a blur.