“Ay, ay,” he answered sleepily, to my call. “What is it, Mr Dugdale? Has the barque hove in sight?”

“No such luck, sir, I am sorry to say,” replied I. “But I think you ought to know that the weather has a very peculiar and threatening appearance; and the glass has dropped a full inch within the last two hours.”

“An inch?” ejaculated Ryan, starting up in his bunk. “An inch? Surely, Dugdale, you must be mistaken!”

“Indeed, sir, I am not,” said I. “I examined the barometer very carefully, and satisfied myself that I had made no mistake before calling you.”

“By Jove, then, it is high time that I was on deck!” exclaimed he, leaping out of his bunk. “Just put a match to my lamp, Harry, my lad, will ye; you will find a box there on the shelf. Is there any wind?”

“Not a breath, sir; but I shall not be surprised if we have a great deal more than we want before long,” I answered.

“Um!” said he. “Well, almost anything short of a hurricane would be better than these exasperating calms. The swell seems to have risen a bit since I turned in, hasn’t it?”

“Quite perceptibly,” said I, “and it seems to be coming more out from the northward than at first.”

“Well,” said he, thrusting his bare feet into his slippers, “let us go on deck and take a look round.”

And, he leading the way, we forthwith trundled up the companion-ladder and stepped out on deck.