“If we are to go down to Martinique we cannot do better than sail with Captain Danvier,” he said. “His steamer, the _Vendee_, is a comfortable craft, and we shall be certain of good food and pleasant company.” “Then let us sail by all means,” said Mark, who was anxious to get to St. Pierre and see his father, and Frank said the same. Sam and Darry were likewise willing, and so, for a wonder was Hockley. As a matter of fact the tall youth had wished to get away from Ponce long before, being fearful that the other boys might learn something about J. Rutherford Brown, _alias_ Henry Umbler, and of the loss of money by gambling. The matter of accommodations on board of the _Vendee_ was easily arranged with Captain Danvier, who was delighted to meet Professor Strong again, and twenty-four hours later the party bid farewell to the Port of Ponce and sailed for the island which was destined so soon to become the center of one of the largest catastrophes known to history. “I guess we have quite a sail before us,” said Sam, after land had become hidden in the distance. “We have, Samuel,” answered the professor. “Roughly speaking, the distance from Ponce to St. Pierre is a little over four hundred miles. We shall sail directly to the south-east, and make no stops on the way. The _Vendee_ is not a fast steamer, but Captain Danvier calculates to cover the distance in five days.” “I have been looking up a map of the Leeward Islands,” put in Mark. “What a lot of them there are and all in a row, like the tops of a mountain range.” “And that is just what they are, Mark, and the tops of a very high range of mountains at that, only the water covers the larger part of the range. Between some of these islands and to the east and west the water is five and six thousand feet deep. If the sea was swept away some of these peaks would be two miles high.” “They must have had some terrible earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to produce such mountains,” said Darry, who had joined the group. “They have had, Dartworth, and these eruptions have extended not alone through the Leeward Islands, but through the whole of the West Indies and also through Central and South America and parts of Mexico.” “Do you know, I have never read much about earthquakes and volcanoes,” observed Mark. “But it seems to me it ought to prove interesting reading.” “It is interesting--more so than any novel you ever read. Earthquakes alone have enlisted the attention of scientists for years, and they have to-day the record of over seven thousand which proved more or less disastrous.” “Seven thousand!” cried Darry. “Then old Mother Earth isn’t as fixed as I thought her!”