"Eh? What? Jerusalem!" said Double. Then he let a joyous bellow out of him. "Square the yards!"
For there was a breath of wind out of the south. Both vessels were alive in a moment, and while the Battle-Axe was squaring away the Star's foreyard was braced sharp up on the starboard tack till she fell off before the little breeze. Then she squared her yards too, and both vessels moved at least a mile towards home before they began fooling all round the compass again.
"Them hands missin' makes a difference," said Watchett, gloomily. "Less than enough is starvation."
As they fought through the night for the flaws of wind which came out of all quarters, the short watches of the Battle-Axe found that out and grumbled accordingly. But it was a very curious thing that the Star of the South was never so easy to handle.
"That foreyard goes round now," said old Semple, "as if it was hung like a balance. This is very surprisin'. So it is."
He mentioned the remarkable fact to McGill when he came on deck at four in the morning, and so long as it was dark, as it was till nearly six, McGill found it so too. And both watches were in a surprisingly good temper. For nothing tries men so much as "brace up" and "square away" every five minutes as they work their ship through a belt of calm. But as soon as the sun was up the Star worked just as badly as she did before.
"It's maist amazin'," said McGill.
During the day the calm renewed itself and gave everyone a rest. But once more the breeze came at night, and the amazing easiness of the Star showed itself when the darkness fell across the sea. Ryder and Semple and McGill were full of wonder and delight.
"The character of a ship will change sometimes," said Semple. "It's just like a collision that will alter her deviation. This calm has worked a revolution."
Because of this revolution the Star got ahead of the Battle-Axe every change and chance of the wind. She got ahead with such effect that on the third day the Battle-Axe was hull down to the south'ard, and when the fourth dawn broke she was out of sight. This meant much more than may appear, for the Star picked up the north-east trade nearly four days earlier than her rival, and a better trade at that. When the Battle-Axe crawled into its area it was half-sister to a calm, while the Star was doing eight knots an hour. And as there was now no need to touch tack or sheet, there was no solution of the mysterious ease with which she worked in the dark. How long the mystery might have remained such no one can say, but it was owing to Mrs. Ryder's curious behaviour that it came out. She laughed in the strangest manner till Ryder got quite nervous.