The evening came on dark and blustery and with a steady beating rain from the northwest. All about, the seas were humping through the darkness. But the Sea Eagle was a staunch boat, well built, and well ballasted, and though she shipped a few seas and the spray flew high over her bridge, she did not roll or plunge unduly.
“Sort of a nasty night, Jim,” remarked Jo, as their dark forms emerged on deck from the companionway.
“It’s dark and threatening,” replied Jim, “and looks fierce, but for real high rolling give me that first night in the channel between Maui and Hawaii.”
Jo made some remark, but a sudden gust of wind took it out of his mouth and anyone to leeward would have got the benefit of it. The only light forward was a glow that came from the engine-room. Jim and Jo stepped inside out of the storm and found Juarez there as usual, and Tom was seated on a step. He was watching the two men moving around the shining engine, which worked smoothly and unceasingly, and its condition showed how carefully it was tended.
“Gosh! but it is good to get inside here out of the storm,” exclaimed Jim. The engineer nodded pleasantly, as he was a man of few words.
CHAPTER IX
THE ENGINEER
The engineer of the Sea Eagle has not received much attention, either in this book or in the one just preceding, but this is not because he, John Berwick, was not worthy of consideration, but because he was apparently a very quiet man, whose conversation was generally confined to monosyllables; likewise his work kept him out of the limelight, as it were.