Biff looked at the luminous dial of his watch. It was nearly twelve o’clock. He nudged the sleeping Li.
“Hey, you’re supposed to be on this watch with me. How ’bout taking over for a while?”
Li rubbed his eyes, stretched, and yawned.
“Aye, aye, Captain.” He took the tiller.
Biff stood up, stretched his body, then settled into a more comfortable position. He fought off sleep, but knew he dozed now and again in short, five-minute catnaps. He was never far from consciousness, though. And if anything happened—say a quickening of the wind—he would have been alert immediately.
At two o’clock, a widely yawning Tom Brewster emerged from the cabin, followed by Hank Mahenili.
“All right, boys. We’ll take over now. Get some sleep. At this steady pace, we’ll reach Upolu long before daylight. We’ll drop anchor, then set out again at daybreak.”
Upolu is the northernmost point on the Island of Hawaii.
Biff and Li were asleep the moment they hit their berths. It seemed to Biff he had only just gone to sleep when he felt his father shaking his shoulder.
“Rise and shine, Biff. Almost daylight. We’re shoving off as soon as we have some grub.”