'When the wind shifts against the sun,
Trust it not, for back it will run.'"
"The barometer has dropped, and I see that the felucca has all the breeze she can take care of," said Scott, as he looked at the Spanish craft. "The wind is backing to the southward; and before night we shall know what sort of a sea-boat the Maud is."
"Dinner is all ready, Captain Scott," Pitts announced at the port door.
"That means the captain and Flix," added Scott, "for they are off watch just now. Here, Pitts, we must have the meal hours fixed a little differently. It is half-past twelve now, and the watch ought to dine before they come on duty."
"That would make the dinner hour come at half-past eleven, sir," replied the steward, "and the other meals at very odd times, sir."
"No matter for the oddity. Hereafter, breakfast at half-past seven, dinner at half-past eleven, and supper at half-past five," said Captain Scott. "Then either watch will have half an hour for a meal before it goes on duty, and the one relieved can have all the time they want. If we find that half an hour is too much time, we can put the time ahead ten minutes."
"The hours you have named are those used in the navy and on board the Guardian-Mother for the ship's company," added Louis.
Roast beef with a few vegetables and a pudding was the dinner, and it was highly approved by both watches. The meal was hardly finished by the port watch before all hands became thoroughly conscious of a change in the mood of the Mediterranean Sea, for the little steamer had begun to roll as though she intended to make a complete somerset. With her course about east and the wind south, she spent more than half of her time in the trough of the sea, which is a very uncomfortable place to be in, especially in a small steamer like the Maud.
It would not be called a very heavy sea, and it was the direction of the wind rather than the quantity of it which made it uncomfortable on board. The water slopped in over the bulwarks, and Captain Scott, like a prudent shipmaster, made a survey of the deck, taking with him Felix and Don. The scuttles over the run and forecastle were secured in their places, and everything put in order for a gale.