From our decks we could hear the old mate bawling orders to a crowd of sailors, who hooked on the tackles and whisked the small boat on to its berth almost before the skipper had walked aft to the poop.
“I FOUND TIME TO DO SOME WORK UPON THE WHEEL GEAR.”
CHAPTER XII.
It remained calm all that day, and the two vessels were in close proximity. Miss Waters sat aft under an awning rigged over the after part of the poop and gazed down at the smooth surface of the sea. Small objects went floating slowly downward through the clear medium, sending scintillating rays of light as they twisted with the motion. I found time to do some work upon the wheel gear, for the calm weather permitted the unreeving of the tackles as the vessel would not steer. Between times I had a small chance to sit upon the taffrail and answer certain questions that only a mate is expected to answer to passengers. Miss Waters seemed preoccupied and took more than usual interest in the movements of Brown, who seemed willing to aid me in my work by keeping as close to me as possible. Twenty-five feet beneath the surface of the sea the keel of the Arrow showed above the void beneath all. Miss Waters was gazing down absently into the depths when she suddenly made out a vague form, brownish yellow in the light, as all objects appear at great depths. The form grew larger, undulating, waving, but steadily increasing in size. Then, at a depth of about fifty feet the shape of a giant turtle appeared.
“Look,” she cried, “what a monster! What can it be?”
Brown looked over the rail, but failed to make the animal out. I saw the turtle would come to the surface, and called two men to get a boat ready.
“Looks like a logger-head,” I said, “and, if you care to, you can have the sport of catching him.”
“I certainly will, then,” she cried, and sprang up ready to get into the small boat. Crojack hardly liked the proceedings, but I made it all right with him by a promise of a fine turtle steak for supper. Then, getting the whale-irons, of which we had two aboard, into the small boat, I called Brown and two men to get into her, and we were soon alongside the Arrow.
“Come,” I said to Miss Waters, “let us see what kind of a sailor you are, for, if you can get in and out of a small boat while the Arrow is rolling in this swell, you can prove yourself.”