stand in towards the African coast.

"Massowah!" was on every tongue, and the general listlessness vanished.
Soon a dim land-line appeared. It grew into a range of barren
mountains, broken by narrow, precipice-guarded valleys. Then a thin
strip of flat fore-shore became visible. It deepened into a flat
island, barely two miles long, and assumed a habitable aspect. A
lighthouse marked a fine harbor. A custom-house, a fort, several
jetties, and a town of fairly tall buildings stood clear from a
scattered gathering of coral-built Arab houses and hundreds of grass
and mat huts. In a word, man had conquered the wilderness, and a busy
community had sprung into being between the silent sea and the arid
earth.

While the _Aphrodite_ was picking her way cautiously to the anchorage
ground, Dick, who was on the bridge with the captain, heard some broken
talk between Mr. Fenshawe and the Baron. The latter, with subdued
energy, was urging some point which the older man refused to yield. The
discussion was keen, and the millionaire betrayed a polite resentment
of his companion's views.

"I am sure the Italian authorities will place no obstacle in our way,"
he declared at last. "When all is said and done, the interest of our
trip is mainly archeological. Why should you hold this absurd notion
that we may be refused official sanction?"

He spoke emphatically, with unveiled impatience. Dick could not make
out the Austrian's reply, but Mr. Fenshawe's next words showed that,
whatever the matter in dispute, he had a will of his own, and meant to
exercise it.