These successive discoveries had produced consternation in the breasts of all who were present.

Erik was the first to break the silence which had succeeded the conversation.

“Poor Captain Marsilas!” he said, in a trembling voice, “he has suffered for us all.  But since we have escaped almost by a miracle the fate which was prepared for us, let us run no more risks.  The tide is rising, and it may be possible to draw the ‘Alaska’ off the rocks.  If you are willing, gentlemen, we will go and commence operations without delay.”

He spoke with simple authority and a modest dignity, with which the feeling of responsibility had already inspired him.

To see a young man of his age invested with the command of a ship under such circumstances, and for such a hazardous expedition, was certainly an unforeseen occurrence.  But he felt that he was equal to the performance of all his duties.  He knew that he could rely upon himself and upon his crew, and these thoughts transfigured him.  The youth of yesterday was a man to-day.  The spirit of a hero burned in his eyes.  He rose superior to the calamity which had befallen them.  His ability impressed all who approached him.  Even the doctor and Mr. Bredejord submitted to him like the others.

The operation of preparing for their morning’s work proved easier than they had hoped.

Lifted by the rising waters, the vessel only required a slight force to take her off the rocks.  A few hours of hard work were sufficient to accomplish this, and the “Alaska” was once more afloat, strained indeed, and weighed down by the water which made its way into some of her compartments, and with her engine silent, but manageable.

All the crew, who were assembled on the deck, watched anxiously the result of these efforts, and a loud hurrah greeted the deliverance of the “Alaska.”

The Frenchmen replied to this joyful cry with similar acclamations.  It was now three o’clock in the afternoon.  Above the horizon the beautiful February sun inundated the calm sparkling sea with floods of sunshine, which fell also on the rocks of the Basse-Froide, as if to efface all remembrance of the drama which had been enacted there the previous night.

That same evening the “Alaska” had been safely towed into the harbor of L’Orient.

The next day the French maritime authorities, with the utmost courtesy, authorized the necessary repairs to be made without delay.  The damage which the vessel had sustained was not serious, but that of the machinery was more complicated, although not irremediable.  Necessarily it would take some time to render her seaworthy, but nowhere in the world, as Erik had foreseen, could this be accomplished so speedily as at this port, which possessed such immense resources for naval construction.  The house of Gainard, Norris & Co., undertook to make the repairs in three weeks.  It was now the 23d of February; on the 16th of March they would be able to resume their voyage, and this time with good charts.