“Certainly. You must first correct the Index Error. Then you subtract the Dip and the Refraction in Altitude, take the sun’s semi-diameter from the Nautical Almanac, and add the Parallax. Do you follow me?” “Perfectly; it sounds the easiest thing. But I don’t wish to hear the remarks of the Admiralty when they see the result.” “I am interested in navigation, to the slight extent possible to a mere yachtsman: may I join you?” interposed Christobal. “Oh, yes,” said the captain off-handedly. Elsie repressed the smile on her lips. Did the worthy doctor fear developments if this harmless map-making progressed in his absence? She imagined, too, that Courtenay’s acquiesence in Christobal’s desire to be present was not wholly in accordance with his innermost wish. She promptly crushed that dangerous fancy. The captain was only seeking for some excuse to take her away from the rough work of rigging the extra awnings. How odd that the other thought should have cropped up first! “You still think the _Kansas_ will win clear of her difficulties?” she said rather hurriedly. “I am sorry to bring King Charles’s head into the conversation, but, after all, the ship’s safety is essential to your survey.” “Every hour strengthens my opinion,” was the confident reply. “Suarez says that there is a reasonable chance of occasional brief spells of fine weather at this period of the year. At any rate, the gale may not be absolutely continuous, and Walker is assured that he can patch up the engines for half speed. Given a calm day, a day like this, for instance, we can reach the Straits in a few hours.” “And the Indians?” “I leave them out of my reckoning. What else can I do?” “Kill ’em,” said Tollemache. Courtenay glanced sharply at his fellow-countryman. He disliked these references to the Alaculof bogy in Elsie’s presence. It was enough that it should exist without being constantly paraded. Though the girl herself was the culprit, Tollemache should have left the topic alone. But Tollemache was a man of fixed ideas. The device of canvas shields to repel boarders had set him thinking how much more effective it would be if the savages were kept at a distance. He well knew that they would not be deterred by a shotgun and a few revolvers, once they had made up their minds to carry the ship by assault. To explain himself, he was compelled to speak at some length, and his swarthy face flushed under the unusual strain. “We have dynamite aboard,” he said. “Why not construct a couple of infernal machines which could be fired by pulling a string, and let them drift towards the canoes when the Indians are near enough?” “It is worth trying,” was Courtenay’s brief comment, though he saw later that Tollemache’s suggestion was a very useful one.