time I would not have done it. We should not
have much chance of overhauling the Phantom if we clipped our
wings."

In another two hours the sea had sensibly moderated. Frank again
went down, and this time was able to go to sleep. When he went on
deck the sun was some way up, the mainsail was set, and the reefs
had been shaken out.

"This is a change for the better, captain."

"It is indeed, sir. I think that we have reason to be proud of the
craft. She has gone through a tornado without having suffered the
slightest damage, except the loss of the dinghy. I shall be getting
the topmast up in another hour. You see, I have got her number-two
jib on her and shifted the mizzen, but she is still a bit too
lively to make it safe to get up the spar. Like as not, if we did,
it would snap off before we could get the stays taut."

"I am terribly anxious about the Phantom," Frank said, "and only
trust that she was in a snug harbour on the lee side of one of the
islands."

"I hope so, sir. I was thinking of her lots of times when the gale
was at its height. If she was, as you say, in a good port, she
would be right enough. Of course, if she was out she would run for
the nearest shelter."

"If she had no more wind than we had before it came on, she had not
much chance of doing that."

"That is true enough, sir; but, you see, the glass gave us notice
three hours before we caught it. Besides, they certainly took
native pilots on board as soon as they got out here, and these must
have got them into some safe place at the first sign of a gale."

"Yes, they must certainly have had a pilot on board," Frank agreed;
"and there is every ground to hope that they were snugly at anchor.
They were three weeks ahead of us, and must know that it is the
hurricane season as well as we do. It is likely that the first
thing they did on their arrival was to search for some quiet spot,
where they could lie up safely till the bad season was over."

Late on the following afternoon land was seen ahead.

"There is Porto Rico, sir. It may not be quite our nearest point to
make, but there are no islands lying outside it; so that it was
safer to make for it than for places where the islands seemed to be
as thick as peas."

"Yes, and for the same reason it is likely that Carthew made for
it. Of course, naturally we should have both gone for either
Barbadoes or Antigua, or Barbuda, the most northern of the Leeward
Islands; but he would not do so