Under her increased canvas, the bark made better weather of it and by night she was sailing easily, but with terrific speed, through the still heavy seas. By the following morning, the sky was clear and blue, the wind had died to a good, stiff sailing breeze, the sea had fallen to a moderate swell and the decks and woodwork glistened like frost as the dried salt sparkled under a brilliant sun.
“Gee, but the old Hector is a wonder, isn’t she!” exclaimed Tom, as the boys reached the deck and gazing about saw that there was not a sign of damage from the stress the ship had been through.
“She is, that,” replied the captain. “Ships like her are not built nowadays and she’s good for another hundred years.”
“How about your old bo’sun bird, now?” laughed Jim as Cap’n Pem approached. “According to you we should have sunk yesterday.”
“Hump!” snorted the old man. “Don’t ’spect one bird kin bring bad luck f’rever, do ye? Reckon he’d oughta be satisfied with all the shennanigans he’s kicked up a’ready.”
CHAPTER XIV
THE BOYS MAKE A DISCOVERY
Day after day, the wind held fair and steady, and the gallant, old bark hurled herself through the hissing seas as though she knew she was homeward bound and as anxious to see New Bedford light as were the men.
The second day after the storm, sail after sail had been piled onto her and even her stunsails had been set, for the captain’s last hope of making the cruise a success lay in securing sperm whales, and he drove his ship at her utmost in order to reach the tropics and the sperm whale grounds as soon as possible.
In order to obtain fresh supplies, the Hector again put into Tristan da Cunha and the boys received a rousing welcome from Paul and Getty. When the story of their adventures on Elephant Island was told, the Potter boys thought Tom and Jim the two luckiest fellows in the world, and they roared with merriment over Mike’s amazement at seeing Sam and finding him a negro with a wooden leg. But they were just as firm in their belief that the bo’sun bird was responsible for the ship’s bad luck as were Pem and Mike, while their grandfather prophesied that, in his opinion, the bark’s troubles were not yet over.
“Boun’ to be a death in the bark’s comp’ny,” he declared. “Never knowed it to fail. Jes’ as soon as that happens the curse’ll be off.”