by a
large schooner. The fog had begun to dissipate, and by one o'clock they
had passed entirely out of it; but the wind had increased in violence,
and at this time it blew a fresh gale.

All hands were called up, and after an hour of hard labor, the jib and
mainsail were taken in, and the reefed foresail set. Now, though the
wind blew a gale, the Flyaway behaved so well that Paul ventured to send
the watch which had served from nine o'clock below. At four o'clock, the
yacht having run ten hours to the eastward, the clouds began to
disperse, the wind suddenly abated, till it became almost a calm, and
there was every appearance of fair weather. At this time Paul put the
Flyaway about, and laid her course due west.

CHAPTER XX.

PAUL EXERCISES A STRONG MORAL INFLUENCE.

At sunrise the sky was clear, and there was not a particle of fog to be
seen in any direction; but the wind had all died out, and there was a
perfect calm upon the ocean. The yacht was out of sight of land, and
Paul judged that she was from eighty to a hundred miles to the eastward
of the Isles of Shoals. There was not a sail to be seen, and the crew
were awed by the feeling that they were alone upon the ocean. Perhaps
not one of them had ever been out of sight of land before, and many of
them had serious doubts whether they should ever see the shore again.

After the Flyaway had rolled and pitched for an hour in the heavy sea
that still prevailed, a breeze sprang up from the southwest. The bonnet
was rove on the jib, and the yacht began to dash merrily over the waves.
Paul ate his breakfast, and remained on deck till nine o'clock, though
he was almost exhausted by the fatigue and incessant watching of the
previous night; but he had trained Tom and Frank so that they could
steer by compass, and at the suggestion of the former, he went below to
obtain the sleep he so much needed.

As the wind continued to blow steadily from the southwest, the yacht
held her course, and the young commander was permitted to sleep till two
o'clock in the afternoon, when, much refreshed, he again appeared on
deck. Land was in sight over the weather bow, and the boys were in
excellent spirits--or rather would have been, if the record of their
misconduct could have been obliterated. Frank and Tom had recovered
their wonted cheerfulness, and when they sighted the land, had begun to
think of the probable consequences of the mutiny in which they had been
the ringleade