think of the weather, Mr Pottle?" said I to the quarter-
master, as he left the boatswain and strolled aft from the waist, where
the two had been jogging fore and aft together for the last half-hour,
and regarding the sky every few minutes with somewhat ostentatious
glances of anxiety.

"Well, sir, I hardly know what to make of it," was the reply. "Mr Fidd
and I have been comparing notes together; the boatswain has been a long
time on this station, as perhaps you know, sir, and he says he doesn't
half like the looks of it; in fact, he remarked to me not five minutes
ago that he wouldn't be surprised to find that a hurricane is brewing.
Have you looked at the glass lately, sir?"

"Not since noon," said I; "it was pretty steady then, with a slight
tendency to drop, it is true, but nothing to speak of. Let us see what
it says now?"

We turned to the open sky-light and looked down through it. The
barometer was, for convenience, hung in the sky-light so that it might
be consulted with equal facility either from the deck or the cabin, and
a single glance sufficed to show us that the mercury had fallen a full
inch since the instrument had been set in the morning.

"Depend upon it, sir, Fidd is right, and we are in for a blow," remarked
Pottle. "And whether or no," he continued, "it seems a pity to let the
canvas beat itself to pieces for no good, as it is doing now. Shall we
stow it, sir? There is no occasion to call all hands, the watch is
strong enough to tackle the job."

I looked round once more at the weather. There was not a breath of wind
anywhere; the water, undisturbed by the faintest indication of a cat's-
paw, showed a surface like polished steel, and the swell was fast going
down. The sun, just touching the horizon, was of a fierce fiery-red
colour, and apparently swollen to abnormal dimensions; but save for the
angry lurid glare of the luminary, and a very perceptible thickening of
the atmosphere, there did not appear to be anything out of the common.
Still I was not altogether satisfied, I had a _feeling_ that something
was about to happen. I took another look at the barometer. The mercury
had visibly dropped still further in the few minutes which had elapsed
since we last looked at it. "Yes," said I, "clew up and furl
everything, Mr Pottle, if you please. Let the watch set about the job
at once, and see that they make a close furl of it whilst they are about
it."

"Ay, ay, sir," was the answer