would
be a bad one."

"Then I am going to see if my books and papers are ready, so I can get
them together in a hurry in case we have to take to the life-boats,"
said Professor Bumper, coming on deck at that moment. "It won't do to
lose them. If we didn't have the map we might not be able to find----"

"Ahem!" exclaimed Tom, with unnecessary emphasis it seemed. "I'll help
you go over your papers, Professor," he added, and with a wink and a
motion of his hand, he enjoined silence on his friend. Ned looked
around for a reason for this, and observed a man, evidently of Spanish
extraction, passing them as he paced up and down the deck.

"What's the matter?" asked the scientist in a whisper, as the man went
on. "Do you know him? Is he a----?"

"I don't know anything about him," said Tom; "but it is best not to
speak of our trip before strangers."

"You are right, Tom," said Professor Bumper. "I'll be more careful."

A storm was brewing, that was certain. A dull, sickly yellow began to
obscure the sky, and the water, from a beautiful blue, turned a slate
color and ran along the sides of the vessel with a hissing sound as
though the sullen waves would ask nothing better than to suck the craft
down into their depths. The wind, which had been freshening, now sang
in louder tones as it hummed through the rigging and the funnel stays
and bowled over the receiving conductors of the wireless.

Sharp commands from the ship's officers hastened the work of the crew
in making things snug, and life lines were strung along deck for the
safety of such of the passengers as might venture up when the blow
began.

The storm was not long in coming. The howling of the wind grew louder,
flecks of foam began to separate themselves from the crests of the
waves, and the vessel pitched, rolled and tossed more violently. At
first Tom and his friends thought they were in for no more than an
ordinary blow, but as the storm progressed, and the passengers became
aware of the anxiety on the part of the officers and crew, the alarm
spread among them.

It really was a violent storm, approaching a hurricane in force, and at
one time it seemed as though the craft, having been heeled far over
under a staggering wave that swept her decks, would not come back to an
even keel.

There was a panic among some of the passengers, and a few excited men
behaved in a way that caused prompt action on the part of the first
officer, who drove them ba