s the boatswain of the
_Columbia_, and soon the whistle piped up shrilly, and those who were
below or in the forecastle, came on deck in a hurry. Already the wind
was freshening, ruffling up the whitecaps in all directions. The sky,
that had been so blue a short while before, became leaden, and the
depths of the ocean took on a somber hue. The barometer indicated a
great and immediate change.

"Lay aloft there, men!" cried Captain Ponsberry. "Our sails are mostly
new and we don't want them ripped up if we can help it. Skip along
there, Peterson!" The latter words to a big sailor who was moving across
the deck at a snail's pace.

The sailor addressed, scowled. It was not his watch on deck and he hated
to have his midday nap disturbed.

"Got a nail in ma boot," he said.

"Well, haul it out--after the sails are trimmed," returned the captain,
and then turned to another hand: "Semmel, what's the matter with you?"
This to the suspicious-looking sailor with the heavy black beard.

"Nodding," grumbled Semmel, and turned away sulkily.

"Then get a move on, or we may lose a stick as well as a sail," and
there followed a perfect volley of orders in a tone that none of the
sailors misunderstood. Up to the yards they crawled like so many
monkeys, and soon the creaking of halyard blocks was heard, as the
topsails came down. The jib and flying jib were also taken in, and a
little later the main-course and the mizzen-course.

"Reckon we can stand the fore-course for a little while longer," said
Captain Ponsberry to Tom Grandon. "What do you think?"

"We can, unless it comes quicker nor it is coming now," returned the
first mate.

"Well, keep an eye on the wind and reef her as soon as it begins to look
nasty," said Captain Ponsberry, and returned to the cabin, to finish his
nautical calculations.

The _Columbia_ had left the last of the Philippines behind and was
headed north through the China Sea toward the lower extremity of
Formosa. She was not as new a ship as when Larry had first boarded her
at Honolulu, for since that time she had seen half a dozen years of hard
service. But Captain Ponsberry was a careful man and believed in making
repairs as soon as they were needed, so there was small danger of her
opening her seams or going to pieces even in the stiffest of blows. She
leaked a little--the best of ships do that--but a short pumping every
morning kept the water at the bottom of the well.

As second mate, it was La