we would
not be long in reaching Calcutta; but we seem to have a breeze, and
yet we don't go.' 'You'll notice,' said I, 'that the sails are not all
set, and for some reason the wind does not serve. When the engines are
mended, we shall probably go spinning along.' She looked as if she was
trying to appear satisfied. 'Thank you, sir,' she said. 'I hope we may
shortly proceed on our way, but in the meantime I shall not say
anything to my father about this detention. I think he has not noticed
it.' 'That would be very wise,' I replied, and as she turned toward the
companionway I was wild to say to her that it would be a lot better for
her to stay on deck, and get some good fresh air, instead of cooping
herself up in that close cabin; but I didn't know her well enough for
that."

"Now that you are through with the girl," said the blacksmith, "what
did the Devil do?"

"I haven't got to him yet," said the marine, "but after Miss Minturn
went below I began to think of him, and the more I thought of him, the
less I liked him. I think the chief officer must have told the men
below about the Water-devil, for pretty soon the whole kit and boodle
of them left their work and came on deck, skipper and all. They told me
they had given up the engine as a bad job, and I thought to myself that
most likely they were all too nervous to rightly know what they were
about. The captain threw out the log again, but it floated alongside
like a cork on a fishing-line, and at this he turned pale and walked
away from the ship's side, forgetting to pull it in again.

"It was now beginning to grow dark, and as nobody seemed to think about
supper, I went below to look into that matter. It wouldn't do for Miss
Minturn. and her father to go without their regular meal, for that
would be sure to scare them to death; and if I'm to have a big scare I
like to take it on a good square meal, so I went below to see about it.
But I wasn't needed, for Miss Minturn's maid, who was an elderly woman,
and pretty sharp set in her temper, was in the cook's galley
superintending supper for her people, and after she got through I
superintended some for myself.

"After that I felt a good deal bolder, and I lighted a pipe and went on
deck. There I found the whole ship's company, officers and crew, none
of them doing anything, and most of them clustered together in little
groups, whispering or grunting.

"I went up to the captain and asked him what he was going to d