Later on,
as the wind subsided, the schooner, having shown her mettle, settled
once more into her stride and flew along like a ghost.

Then, for the first time since the storm had begun, the captain laid
aside his oil-skins and relaxed.

"That was a fierce blow," chuckled Tyke. "A little more and you might
have called it a hurricane."

"It was a teaser," asserted the captain. "Did you see how the old girl
came through it? Never lost a brace or started a seam. Hardly a drop
of water in the hold. Didn't I tell you she was a sweet sailer, either
in fair weather or foul? But the crew! Holy mackerel! what a gang of
lubbers."

"You're right to be proud of the craft," assented Tyke. "Has it taken
her much out of her course?"

"A bit to the north, but nothing more. For that matter, we've passed
Martinique. I figure it out that we may raise the hump-backed island
to-morrow, if we have luck."

A feeling of relief was experienced by the rest of the after-guard when
at last the danger was past, and it was a happy, if tired, party that
gathered about the captain's table that evening.

Supper over, they went on deck. The tropical night had fallen. There
was no moon, and a velvety blackness stretched about the ship on every
side, broken here and there by a faint phosphorescent gleam as a wave
reared and broke.

The schooner still rose and plunged from the aftermath of the storm,
and the slipperiness of the wet decks made the footing insecure. The
captain was fearful that Ruth might have a fall, and after a while
urged her to go below. Drew and Parmalee offered to accompany her, but
she was very tired after the excitement and sleeplessness of the
previous night, and excused herself on the plea that she thought she
would retire early.

Drew and Parmalee were standing near each other just abaft the
mizzenmast, while Tyke and the captain were aft, talking in low voices.

An unusually big wave struck the schooner a resounding slap on the
starboard quarter, causing her to lurch suddenly. Drew was thrown off
his balance. He tried to regain his footing, but the slippery deck was
treacherous and he fell heavily, striking his head on the corner of the
hatch cover.

How long he lay there he did not know, but it must have been for
several minutes, for when he recovered consciousness his clothes were
wet where they had absorbed the moisture from the deck. His head was
whirling, and he felt giddy and confused. He