Dinner, therefore, promised to be a meal of much
discomfort, cheered only by the knowledge that as soon as the vessel
reached the lee of Desolation Island the giant waves of the Pacific
would lose their power, and all on board would enjoy a quiet night's
rest.
There were no absentees at the table. Dr. Christobal strove to enliven
the others with the promise of peace ere many hours had passed.
"Pay no heed to those fellows!" he cried, as the ship quivered under
the blow of a heavy sea, and they heard the thud of many tons of water
breaking over the bows and fore hatch, while the defeated monster
washed the tightly screwed ports with a venomous swish. "They cannot
harm us now. Let us rather thank kindly Providence which provided
Magellan's water-way; think what it would mean were we compelled to
weather the Cape."
"I am beginning to catch on to the reasonableness of that toast of
yours, doctor," said one of the mining engineers, a young American. "I
happen to be a tee-totaler, but I don't mind opening a bottle of the
best for the general welfare when we shove our nose past the Cape of
the large number of young and unprotected females.
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