you couldn't make no river to-night."

"It will be dark too soon."

"Not to-night, sir," said Jecks sturdily.

"Yes, man; there will be no moon."

"No, sir; but in less nor an hour's time the sea 'll be white as milk,
and all of a greeny glow, same as it is some still nights in port.
There won't be no difficulty, sir, about seeing."

"But you think it will be hard to make the channel?"

"I hope not, sir, but I'm afraid so; we can only try."

"Yes, we can only try," said Mr Brooke slowly, as he came and sat
beside me. "And we must try, Herrick--our best. For this is no night
to be out in almost an open boat."

"Then you think there is danger, sir?" I said anxiously.

"No, Herrick," he replied, smiling; "sailors have no time to think of
danger. They have enough to think about without that. We must get in
the lee of that island to-night, and it the storm holds back, and the
little boat spins along like this, we ought to do it."

"And if it doesn't, sir?"

"If it doesn't? Ah, well, we shall see. Stand by, two of you, ready to
lower that sail at a moment's notice."

"Ay, ay, sir," was the ready reply as two of the men changed their
places; and just then I looked at Ching, to see that his face was lit up
by the reflection of the strange light on our right and behind, which
grew more striking, while away before us the land disappeared, and we
were gazing at a bank of clouds of an inky black.

The effect was very curious: behind us the dull coppery glow becoming
fainter minute by minute, as the darkness increased the blackness before
us; and one's instinct seemed to warn one to turn from the black
darkness to sail away towards the light. Tom Jecks took the same idea,
and said, in an irritable whisper, exactly what I thought--

"Seems rum, sir, don't it, sir?--makes believe as that's the best way,
when all the time the wussest looking is the safest."

Just then, after a glance round, Mr Brooke uttered another warning to
the men to be ready, and settled himself down to the tiller.

"Sit fast, all of you; the hurricane may be down upon us at any moment
now."

I looked at him wonderingly, for it was painfully still, though the
darkness was growing intense, and the great junk seemed to have been
swallowed up by the clouds that hung low like a fog over the sea.

"There will be such a turmoil of the elements directly," continued Mr
Brooke in a low voice, but only to me, "that I don't suppose a word will
b