Let me try to calculate how long I have been here. The ship must have
been under way for at least four or five hours. I reckon it must be
past midnight, but I cannot tell, for unfortunately my watch is of no
use to me in this Cimmerian darkness.

Now, if we have been going for five hours, we must have cleared
Pamlico Sound, whether we issued by Ocracoke or Hatteras inlet, and
must be off the coast a good mile, at least. Yet I haven't felt any
motion from the swell of the sea.

It is inexplicable, incredible! Come now, have I made a mistake? Am
I the dupe of an illusion? Am I not imprisoned in the hold of a ship
under way?

Another hour has passed and the movement of the ship suddenly ceases;
I realize perfectly that she is stationary. Has she reached her
destination? In this event we can only be in one of the coast ports
to the north or south of Pamlico Sound. But why should Thomas Roch be
landed again? The abduction must soon have been discovered, and our
kidnappers would run the greatest risk of falling into the hands of
the authorities if they attempted to disembark.

However this may be, if the vessel is coming to anchor I shall hear
the noise of the chain as it is paid out, and feel the jerk as
the ship is brought up. I know that sound and that jerk well from
experience, and I am bound to hear and feel them in a minute or two.

I wait--I listen.