A discussion more than usually animated arose between them, for the two men were not altogether of the same mind as to the measures that ought to be adopted in order to open the fairest chance of avoiding a fatal climax to their exposure; the captain persisted that an entirely new abode must be sought, while the lieutenant was equally bent upon devising a method of some sort by which their present quarters might be rendered sufficiently warm.

All at once, in the very heat of his argument, Procope paused; he passed his hand across his eyes, as if to dispel a mist, and stood, with a fixed gaze centered on a point towards the south.

"What is that ?" he said, with a kind of hesitation.

"No, I am not mistaken," he added; "it is a light on the horizon." "A light!" exclaimed Servadac; "show me where." "Look there!" answered the lieutenant, and he kept pointing steadily in its direction, until Servadac also distinctly saw the bright speck in the distance.
It increased in clearness in the gathering shades of evening.

"Can it be a ship ?" asked the captain.
"If so, it must be in flames; otherwise we should not be able to see it so far off," replied Procope.
"It does not move," said Servadac; "and unless I am greatly deceived, I can hear a kind of reverberation in the air." For some seconds the two men stood straining eyes and ears in rapt attention.