"It is not comfortable; and I suppose that is about the worst that can be said of it."
"She is all right as long as the engine holds its own; and both Felipe and Don say there is no danger of its giving out," said the captain. "I suppose it is all right; but I wish we had another string to our bow."
"What other string could we have to our bow?" asked Louis, giving his companion an inquiring glance.
"The sails; and I wish I had thought to bend them on before we left Gib, or this forenoon, when we had nothing under the canopy to do but bite our finger-nails."
"I dare say it would be well to have them ready for use as a last resort," suggested Louis.
"As something more than that, though it would be exceedingly convenient to be able to set a reefed foresail in case the engine should break down. I have been thinking of bending on the foresail since it came on to blow heavily."
"You have no use for it yet; for Felipe says the Pacha had everything about the craft built twice as strong as was necessary, and I have no fear of the engine," replied Louis.
"If the sails were bent on, I should have set a reefed foresail, and perhaps a reefed mainsail, before this time," continued the captain. "It would steady her a great deal if nothing more, for I do not believe we are making our ten knots an hour just now."
Captain Scott sat on the divan, and appeared to be considering the expedient he had mentioned. A few minutes later he announced his intention to bend on the foresail, and he made his exit with the same precaution he had used in entering. He called Felix, Pitts, Morris, and Don to assist in the work, after he had been into the forecastle by the way of the engine and fire rooms. He overhauled the sails, and found the one he wanted.
Pitts carried it on deck, and it was passed up to the promenade deck, as they called the roofs of the deck-houses. The foremast was between the galley and the pilot-house. The gaff was lowered; and Scott and Pitts, who were both sailors, lashed the head of the sail to it. The mast-hoops were all in place, and the inner-leach was readily secured to them. Felix and Don, who were not sailors, had enough to do in holding on at the sail to keep the wind from whipping it out of the hands of the operators.