sea and sky were white as
milk as the wind tore up the waves and beat them flat, and whirled away
broad sheets of driving foam.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

THE STORM, AND ITS RESULTS.

Although the _Red Eric_ was thrown on her beam-ends, or nearly so, by
the excessive violence of the squall, the preparations to meet it had
been so well made that she righted again almost immediately, and now
flew before the wind under bare poles with a velocity that was
absolutely terrific.

Ailie had been nearly thrown out of her berth when the ship lay over,
and now when she listened to the water hissing and gurgling past the
little port that lighted her cabin, and felt the staggering of the
vessel, as burst after burst of the hurricane almost tore the masts out
of her, she lay trembling with anxiety and debating with herself whether
or not she ought to rise and go on deck.

Captain Dunning well knew that his child would be naturally filled with
fear, for this was the first severe squall she had ever experienced, so,
as he could not quit the deck himself, he called Glynn Proctor to him
and sent him down with a message.

"Well, Ailie," said Glynn, cheerfully, as he opened the door and peeped
in; "how d'ye get on, dear? The captain has sent me to say that the
worst o' this blast is over, and you've nothing to fear."

"I am glad to hear that, Glynn," replied the child, holding out her
hand, while a smile lighted up her face and smoothed out the lines of
anxiety from her brow. "Come and sit by me, Glynn, and tell me what
like it is. I wish so much that I had been on deck. Was it grand,
Glynn?"

"It was uncommonly grand; it was even terrible--but I cannot sit with
you more than a minute, else my shipmates will say that I'm skulking."

"Skulking, Glynn! What is that?"

"Why, it's--it's shirking work, you know," said Glynn, somewhat puzzled.

Ailie laughed. "But you forget that I don't know what `shirking' means.
You must explain that too."

"How terribly green you are, Ailie."

"No! am I?" exclaimed the child in some surprise. "What _can_ have done
it? I'm not sick."

Glynn laughed outright at this, and then proceeded to explain the
meaning of the slang phraseology he had used. "Green, you must know,
means ignorant," he began.

"How funny! I wonder why."

"Well, I don't know exactly. Perhaps it's because when a fellow's asked
to answer questions he don't understand, he's apt to turn either blue
with rage or yellow w