“Double reef the sails,” the captain commanded at the same time changing the course so as to steer directly toward the approaching storm.
The party at the captain’s suggestion had donned their oilskins and were now crouched in the shelter of the cabin top watching with fascinated interest the coming of the storm.
“Better get a good strong hold,” advised Tom, “It’s going to blow great guns.”
Higher and higher rose the clouds until all of the west was of inky blackness through which there ran, now and again, a streak of light that was blinding in its intensity. The storm broke now with a flash as if the whole firmament was aflame, and with a roar that drowned the thunder a solid wall of blackness enveloped them, blotting out everything except the ship’s lights, and there came down apparently a deluge of water.
“Put out the lights,” commanded the captain, in the first lull of the storm. The vessel was still rolling and pitching, and the wind was howling through the shrouds.
In total darkness, now, the ship plunged forward through the angry waves that crashed against her bow with a force that shook her from stem to stern, while the wind played weird tunes overhead.
“We will keep her on the course she is running a half hour,” determined the captain. By that time the storm had about blown out, and when the command was turned over to the mate the ship’s regular course was resumed.
“I think,” began the captain, the next morning when the boys came on deck, “that we have seen the last of the Marjorie.”
“I hope so,” replied the professor, who was scanning the horizon with a glass. “It is almost too good to be true, but they do not seem to be in sight.”
It was a beautifully clear day after the storm. The wind had blown all the clouds away, and the sky was a deep transparent blue. The air was crisp, and for the latitude, cool, and the sea rose and fell in long broken swells through which the yacht was racing at the rate of a dozen knots. They were alone on the vast expanse of water; no other vessel was in sight, although way to the southwest a faint trail-like smoke showed on the horizon against the deep blue of the sky.