But this was only a possibility.  The fact was that he was no longer on board, and that he could not cast a damper upon the spirits of the company.

Their dinner, also, which they took at six o’clock, as usual, was the gayest which they had yet sat down to.  At dessert they drank to the success of the expedition, and every one, in his heart, associated it, more or less, with the absence of Tudor Brown.  Then they went on deck and smoked their cigars.

It was a dark night, but in the distance toward the north they could see the light of Cape Saint Matthew.  They soon signaled, also, the little light on the shore at Bec-du-Raze, which proved that they were in their right course.  A good breeze from the north-east accelerated the speed of the vessel, which rolled very little, although the sea was quite rough.

As the dinner-party reached the deck, one of the sailors approached the captain, and said:  “Six knots and a quarter.”

“In that case we shall not want any more coal until we arrive at Behring’s Straits,” answered the captain.  After saying these words, he left the doctor and went down to his room.  There he selected a large chart, which he spread out before him under a brilliant light, which was suspended from the ceiling.  It was a map of the British Admiralty, and indicated all the details of the course which the “Alaska” intended to take.  The shores, the islands, the sand-banks, the light-houses, revolving lights, and the most minute details were all clearly marked out.  With such a chart and a compass it seemed as if even a child might be able to guide the largest ship through these perilous passes; and yet, a distinguished officer of the French Navy, Lieutenant Mage, who had explored the Niger, had been lost in these waters, with all his companions, and his vessel, the “Magician.”

It had happened that Captain Marsilas had never before navigated in these waters.  In fact, it was only the necessity of stopping at Brest which had brought him here now, otherwise he would have passed a long distance from shore.  Therefore he was careful to study his chart attentively, in order to keep his proper course.  It seemed a very easy matter, keeping on his left the Pointe-du-Van, the Bec-du-Raze, and the Island of Sein, the legendary abode of the nine Druidesses, and which was nearly always veiled by the spray of the roaring waters; he had only to run straight to the west and to the south to reach the open sea.  The light on the island indicated clearly his position, and according to the chart, the island ended in rocky heights, bordered by the open sea, whose depth reached one hundred meters.  The light on the island was a useful guide on a dark night, and he resolved to keep closer to it than he would have done in broad daylight.  He therefore ascended to the deck, and told Erik to sail twenty-five degrees toward the southwest.

This order appeared to surprise the young lieutenant.