"Maybe something has happened to him," suggested the commander. "Better look after him, Mr. Carr. We shall do very well for the time being. We've got her before the gale now, and she's scudding along very nicely."
Once the first fury of the storm was past, and it settled down to a steady blow, Captain Spark knew how to handle his vessel. Mr. Carr went below. He found Mr. Tarbill in the main cabin, pacing to and fro and starting nervously at every unexpected lurch of the ship.
"Is it blowing? Is the ship going up or down?" asked the nervous passenger.
"Is what blowing?"
"The Jilla-Jilly wind!"
"The Jilla-Jilly wind?" repeated the mate in wonder, thinking Mr.
Tarbill might be out of his head.
"Yes, Bob told me about it. It blows up and down and is liable to take one up Into the clouds or down into the ocean."
"What nonsense! Look here, Mr. Tarbill, that was one of Bob's jokes. I'll scold him for this."
Yet, secretly, the mate was not sorry that Bob's trick had been effective in getting the frightened man off the deck.
"Then there isn't any such wind?"