“My! but that was a close call,” said Bob. “How did you know what was coming, Jack?”
“I didn’t, exactly,” said Harvey. “But I’ve heard the fishermen tell of the white squalls, and I thought that was one.”
“Don’t they say they are worse when they come between tides?” asked Henry Burns, quietly.
“Seems to me they do,” answered Harvey. “I guess we’re in for it. Lucky we are running out to sea, instead of in on to a lee shore, though.”
“They don’t last long, I’ve heard say,” said Henry Burns. “We may be able to face it by and by, and work back; though it will be a long beat, by the way we are driving.”
They were, indeed, being borne onward with great force. Moreover, a quick transformation had taken place over the surface of the waters; for the fury of the squall, continuing as it did for some time from the west, had calmed the waves, and there was almost a smooth sea before them.
Then, presently, there came another strange alteration of the wind. The violence of the squall abated, and the breeze fell away again. But only for a brief length of time. As often happens, with the white squall as its forerunner, the wind now changed from the southerly of the morning and afternoon, to northeasterly; and already, as they proceeded to get sail again on the Viking, the water darkened away to the north and eastward, showing that a new breeze was coming from that quarter. They were fully two miles out to sea.
“Looks downright nasty, don’t it, Jack?” said Henry Burns. “Better reef, hadn’t we?”
“Yes, and in a hurry, too,” replied Harvey. “It’s coming heavy before long.”
“Here, you take the wheel,” said Henry Burns. “I’m quick at tying in reef-points. Come on, Tom. Bob will set the forestaysail. How many reefs do you want, Jack?”