"Hush, my dear," said her sister gently.
"I can't!" was the answer. "When I think of poor Russ——"
"I'm going to put on a life preserver," exclaimed Miss Pennington, favoring Alice with a frosty stare.
"Perhaps that would be a good plan for us, my dears," said Mr. DeVere to his daughters. "It can do no harm, at all events."
"No," admitted Alice. "But we appear to be all right—for the time being, at least."
It seemed quieter up on deck now, for the sailors had ceased rushing about adjusting the canvas, though there was still plenty of noise. There was the rattle and bang of blocks, the whipping about of ends of ropes, the slap, now and then, of the storm jib, as it was whipped back and forth. Now and then a heavy sea would fall on deck with a crash.
At such times the Mary Ellen, stout as she was, would tremble from stem to stern, and those in the cabin would shiver and look at one another apprehensively.
"Come on, Laura," called Miss Pennington to her companion. "Let's take all the precautions we can. We'll put on life preservers. But oh, I daren't think of being in the water with all those sharks."
"Don't talk that way!" said Paul in a sharp whisper, as he saw Ruth shrink back at the word "shark."
Miss Pennington did not deign to answer, but she and her friend were soon struggling with the straps of a life preserver. At this moment Captain Brisco came down into the cabin.