ch they were diagonally approaching. The principal
spokesman was Stimson, the oldest mariner on board, and one who had
oftener visited those seas than any other of the crew.

"You know the spot, do you, Stephen?" demanded Roswell Gardiner, with
interest.

"Yes, sir, there's no mistake. That's the Horn. Eleven times have I
doubled it, and this is the third time that I've been so close in as to
get a fair sight of it. Once I went inside, as I've told you, sir."

"I have doubled it six times myself," said Gardiner, "but never saw it
before. Most navigators give it a wide berth. 'Tis said to be the
stormiest spot on the known earth!"

"That's a mistake, you may depend on 't, sir. The sow-westers blow great
guns here-abouts, it is true enough; and when they do, sich a sea comes
tumbling in on that rock as man never seed anywhere else, perhaps; but, on
the whull, I'd rather be close in here, than two hundred miles further to
the southward. With the wind at sow-west, and heavy, a better slant might
be made from the southern position; but here I know where I am, and I'd go
in and anchor, and wait for the gale to blow itself out."

"Talking of seas, Captain Gar'ner," observed Hazard, "don't you think,
sir, we begin to feel the swell of the Pacific. Smooth as the surface of
the water is, here is a ground-swell rolling in that must be twelve or
fifteen feet in height."

"There's no doubt of that. We have felt the swell of the Pacific these two
hours; no man can mistake _that_. The Atlantic has no such waves. This is
an ocean in reality, and this is its stormiest part. The wind freshens and
hauls, and I'm afraid we are about to be caught close in here, with a
regular sow-west gale."

"Let it come, sir, let it come," put in Stimson, again; "if it does, we've
only to run in and anchor. I can stand pilot, and I promise to carry the
schooner where twenty sow-westers will do her no harm. What I've seen done
once, I know can be done again. The time will come when the Horn will be a
reg'lar harbour."

Roswell left the forecastle, and walked aft, pondering on what had just
been said. His situation was delicate, and demanded decision, as well as
prudence. The manner in which Daggett had stuck by him, ever since the two
vessels took their departure from Block Island, is known to the reader.
The Sea Lions had sailed from Rio in company, and they had actually made
Staten Land together, the day preceding that on which we now bring the