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Page 75
This prospect restored every one's ardor, and they were eager to depart.
Erik thought it best, however, to wait until the next day and see if the
fog would lift; but fogs appeared to be the chronic malady of Cape
Tchelynskin, and when next morning the sun rose without dissipating it,
he gave orders to hoist the anchor.
Leaving to the south the Gulf of Taymis--which is also the name of the
great Siberian peninsula of which Cape Tchelynskin forms the extreme
point--the "Alaska," directing her course westward, sailed
uninterruptedly during the day and night of the 17th of August.
On the eighteenth, at day-break, the fog disappeared at last and the
atmosphere was pure and enlivened by the sunshine. By midday they had
rounded the point, and immediately descried a distant sail to the
south-west.
The presence of a sailing-vessel in these unfrequented seas was too
extraordinary a phenomenon not to attract special attention. Erik, with
his glass in his hand, ascended to the lookout and examined the vessel
carefully for a long time. It appeared to lie low in the water, was
rigged like a schooner and had a smoke-stack, although he could not
perceive any smoke. When he descended from the bridge the young captain
said to the doctor:
"It looks exactly like the 'Albatross!'" Then he gave orders to put on
all steam possible. In less than a quarter of an hour he saw that they
were gaining on the vessel, whose appointments they were now able to
discern with the naked eye. They could see that the breeze had
slackened, and that her course was at right angles with that of the
"Alaska."
But suddenly a change took place in the distant vessel; Clouds of smoke
issued from her smoke-stack, and formed behind her a long black cloud.
She was now going by steam and in the same direction as the "Alaska."
"There is now no doubt of it. It is the 'Albatross,'" said Erik.
He gave orders to the engineer to increase the speed of the "Alaska," if
possible. They were then making fourteen knots, and in a quarter of an
hour they were making sixteen knots. The vessel that they were pursuing
had not been able to attain a like rate of speed, for the "Alaska"
continued to gain upon her. In thirty minutes they were near enough to
her to distinguish all her men who were maneuvering her. At last they
could see the moldings and letters forming her name, "Albatross."
Erik gave orders to hoist the Swedish flag. The "Albatross" immediately
hoisted the stars and stripes of the United States of America.
In a few minutes the two vessels were only separated by a few hundred
yards. Then the captain of the "Alaska" took his speaking-trumpet and
hailed the vessel in English:
"Ship ahoy! I wish to speak with your captain!"
In a few moments some one made his appearance on the bridge of the
"Albatross." It was Tudor Brown.
"I am the proprietor and captain of this yacht," he said. "What do you
want?"
"I wish to know whether Patrick O'Donoghan is on board!'"
"Patrick O'Donoghan is on board and can speak for himself," answered
Tudor Brown.
He made a sign, and a man joined him on the bridge.
"This is Patrick O'Donoghan," said Tudor Brown. "What do you want with
him?"
Erik was desirous of this interview so long, he had come so far in
search of this man, that when he found himself unexpectedly in his
presence and recognized him by his red hair and broken nose, he was at
first taken aback and scarcely knew what to say to him. But gathering
his ideas together, he at last made an attempt.
"I have been wishing to talk to you confidentially for several years,"
he said. "I have been seeking for you, and it was to find you that I
came into these seas. Will you come on board of my vessel?"
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