. "Hands, shorten sail! Haul down and
clew up, fore and aft; in with everything. Settle away your peak and
main halliards, and let's get this big mainsail snug under its cover the
first thing. In main-topmast staysail. Let go the topgallant and
topsail halliards, and clew up and furl the sails. Man the jib and
staysail downhauls, let go the halliards, haul down. Lay out there,
for'ard, and stow those jibs. Shall we send the royal and topgallant-
yards down on deck, sir, and house the topmasts whilst we are about it?"

"We may as well," I replied. "If it comes on to blow heavily the
schooner will be all the easier if relieved of her top-hamper, and if it
turns out to be a false alarm, why we can soon get her ataunto again,
and there will be no harm done."

The men, many of whom were thoroughly seasoned and experienced hands,
had evidently been feeling anxious, and seemed glad enough to find their
officers on the alert, if one might judge by the activity with which
they went about their work, and the eagerness which they evinced to get
it expeditiously performed. By the time that everything was made snug,
the ship under bare poles, the guns secured with extra tackles and what
not, it was pitch-dark--darker, indeed, if such were possible, than on
the night of our adventure with the Indiaman. Still, there was no sign
of a change, so when the steward summoned me to dinner I had no
hesitation about following him, leaving the deck in charge of the
gunner, with instructions to keep both eyes and ears open, and to call
me the moment he had reason to believe the breeze was coming.

Dinner over, I again went on deck. Still no change, the air seemed
thick, and hot as the breath of a furnace, but so still that the flame
of a candle brought on deck burned straight up, save when the roll of
the vessel caused it to waver to port or to starboard as the case might
be.

"After all I don't think it's going to be anything, sir, unless, mayhap,
another thunder-storm like the one we had," commenced the gunner, as I
stood looking round the horizon and vainly endeavouring to pierce the
darkness which enveloped us.

"Hark!" I interrupted. "Do you hear that, Tompion?"

A low moaning sound had become audible in the atmosphere, away
apparently on our starboard beam, and as we listened it gradually
increased in intensity until it had become a rushing roar so loud as to
almost drown the human voice, even when raised to its highest