"If one or two strollers should happen this way, they would not be able to put it into the water, though four men can carry it very easily." The whaleboat was borne to a spot indicated by the lieutenant, and left as it had been taken from the surf.

Everything in it was arranged in order, so that it could be hastily put into the water if circumstance demanded a hurried retreat from the scene of operations.

Near the spot was a post set up in the sand, which might have been one of the corners of a shanty, or have been used years before by fishermen drying their nets or other gear.
"Do you see that post, my men ?" asked Christy, as he pointed to it, not twenty feet from the spot where the boat had been deposited.
"Ay, ay, sir!" the seamen responded, in low tones, for they had been warned not to speak out loud.
"That will be your guide in finding the boat if we should get scattered," added the officer.

"Now, do you see the two stars about half way between the horizon and the zenith ?" "Ay, ay, sir!" answered Weeks, the oiler.

"The Band of Orion." "Quite right, Weeks," added Christy.