“They’re in a straight line now,” said Captain John.
“Right,” said Captain Nancy. “Now, I’m not going to look at anything again. I’ll simply scull and keep my eyes looking at the bottom of the boat. You watch those two marks and tell me the moment they are not one above another.”
She began sculling fast over the stern, and the Amazon moved in towards the rocks.
“The fork is to the right of the stump,” sang out John.
Nancy sculled away, slightly altering her direction. “How is it now?” she said.
“In line.”
She went on sculling.
“Fork showing on the left … in line again … showing on the left … in line … fork showing on the right … in line.”
Nancy never looked up, but altered the direction of the boat a little every time John said that the marks were out of line. The Amazon moved on between the rocks and came at last into the harbour.
“We’re through,” said John. “That was jolly good work.”
“It’s quite simple,” said Captain Nancy. “Captain Flint taught us, last year when he was Uncle Jim, before he went bad. That’s the way all harbours are marked, with two marks, showing how to steer into them. Really, of course, they ought to have lanterns on them, for coming in at night. With lanterns on the marks you could come in through the rocks even if it was perfectly dark.”