“I am almost certain of it. I’ve noticed that the yacht rode easier since we came so near being run down by the steamer.”
“And it seems to be hauling around again. If we have many more changes the Zoe will have sailed in a circle before morning.”
“I reckon we shall have to take it as it comes,” Roy said grimly. “I am more afraid of a calm than of an increase in the wind. It would be terrible to be becalmed where we didn’t have the slightest idea of our position.”
Ned made no reply.
According to his ideas there were plenty of disagreeable things close at hand, without going into the future to find them.
Not until the clock had marked the hour of three, although it may have been two or four, did Vance awaken, and then, whether the time-piece was correct or not, he knew he had had more than his share of sleep.
“Say, why didn’t one of you fellows turn me out?” he asked as he came toward the wheel. “Here I’ve been taking my ease as if I was a swell passenger, while you two were on duty.”
“There was no reason why you shouldn’t have slept while it was possible,” Roy replied. “There was nothing to be done, even if you had remained awake, and now when one of us feels like taking a nap, you can do your share of the steering.”
“How are we getting along?”
“Doing a heap of sailing, but it’s an open question whether we are progressing very fast.”