The Last Encounter

Dick awoke next morning with a feeling of nervous strain that got worse
as the day wore on. By going down to the saloon immediately the
breakfast-bell rang and making a hurried meal, he and his companions
avoided meeting Kenwardine, and, after bribing a steward, were given
lunch with the second-class passengers. Two difficulties were thus got
over, but the time passed heavily while they kept out of sight in quiet
corners of the after well, and Dick found it a relief when a friendly
engineer invited him below. Here he spent some hours, smoking and
watching the machinery, while the fingers of the clock on the bulkhead
crawled with painful slowness round the dial.

When he went up on deck the bold ridge of the Blue Mountains rose above
the dazzling sea, but the lower slopes were veiled in haze and he could
not tell how far the land was off. A mate informed him that they would
have the coast close aboard at dusk, but did not think anybody would be
allowed to land until the morning. Struck by a thought, Dick asked if any
passenger boats were likely to be in port, and the mate replied that a
Spanish liner would leave for Brazil soon after they arrived, but he knew
of no vessel going north for the next few days. Then, after giving Dick
some advice about the choice of a hotel, he went away.

Towards sunset the sea-breeze dropped and the mist gathered thicker about
the hills. Faint puffs of hot wind began to blow off the land, which
faded suddenly as darkness rolled down. A thin haze drifted out across
the water and the speed slackened as the vessel closed with the shore.
Then dim lights blinked out ahead, the engines stopped, and a detonating
rocket burst high up in the sky. Soon afterwards a steam launch came off,
and the purser stopped near Dick on his way to his room.