There were two men left on guard on
the deck of the ship, and to these we made signs. When they saw us they
spoke to some one who stood near, and whom we thought had charge of the
ship. He then put his glass up to his eye and took a good view of us
through it.
We did not at first like to go too near, but kept our boat some way
off. Fritz said he could see that the faces of the men were not so dark
as our own.
"If that be the case," said I, "we are safe, and we may trust their
flag."
We both sang a Swiss song, and then I cried out at the top of my voice
these words: "Ship ahoy! good men!" But they made no sign that they
heard us. Our song, our boat, and, more than all, our dress, made them
no doubt guess that we were wild men of the wood; for at last one of
the crew on board held up knives and glass beads, which I knew the wild
tribes of the New World were fond of. This made us laugh, but we would
not as yet draw nigh to the ship, as we thought we ought to meet our
new friends in our best trim.
We then gave a shout and a wave of the hand, and shot off round the
cape as fast as our boat would take us. We soon got back to Rock House,
where our dear ones were on the look-out for us. My wife said we had
done quite right to come back, but Jane thought we should have found
out who they were.
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