"There's a breeze coming, Sir," he said aloud, but in an under-tone, to the mate, the officer of the watch; who, coming aft, stood looking, far and near, on the water, to observe the ripple of a coming wind.
"I see," he said; "it's springing up from the south'ard;" and, pacing the deck to and fro, he would also turn his eyes to the topmast-head every time he reached the quarter-deck of the vessel, to mark if the night-flag moved. Standing, at last, close to the helmsman,
"How's her head?" he asked.
"North, a quarter east, Sir," replied the man. After a short pause, the mate, taking another glimpse aloft, said,
"Slack off the main-sheet."
"Ay, ay, Sir," several men replied, and hurried, with a kind of trot, to comply with the command.
"How are the head-sheets?" again said the mate.
"All taut, Sir," answered a voice.
"Ease them off," was the mate's command.
"Ay, ay, Sir," the same voice answered.