n waters.

"We need hardly have reefed quite so closely," Jack Harvey said, as he
puffed away at his pipe.

"Not yet, Jack; but you will see she has as much as she can carry before
long. It's all the better to make all snug before starting; it saves a
lot of trouble afterwards, and the extra canvas would not have made ten
minutes' difference to us at the outside. We shall have pretty nearly a
dead beat down the Solent. Fortunately the tide will be running strong
with us, but there will be a nasty kick up there. You will see we shall
feel the short choppy seas there more than we shall when we get outside.
She is a grand boat in a really heavy sea, but in short waves she puts
her nose into it with a will. Now, if you will take my advice, you will
do as I am going to do; put on a pair of fisherman's boots and oilskin
and sou'wester. There are several sets for you to choose from below."

As her owner had predicted, the Seabird put her bowsprit under pretty
frequently in the Solent; the wind was blowing half a gale, and as it
met the tide it knocked up a short, angry sea, crested with white heads,
and Jack Harvey agreed that she had quite as much sail on her as she
wanted. The cabin doors were bolted, and all made snug to prevent the
water getting below before they got to the race off Hurst Castle; and
it was well that they did so, for she was as much under water as she was
above.

"I think if I had given way to the ladies and brought them with us they
would have changed their minds by this time, Jack," Tom Virtue said,
with a laugh.

"I should think so," his friend agreed; "this is not a day for a fair
weather sailor. Look what a sea is breaking on the shingles!"

"Yes, five minutes there would knock her into matchwood. Another ten
minutes and we shall be fairly out; and I shan't be sorry; one feels
as if one was playing football, only just at present the Seabird is the
ball and the waves the kickers."

Another quarter of an hour and they had passed the Needles.

"That is more pleasant, Jack," as the short, chopping motion was
exchanged for a regular rise and fall; "this is what I enjoy--a steady
wind and a regular sea. The Seabird goes over it like one of her
namesakes; she is not taking a teacupful now over her bows.

"Watkins, you may as well take the helm for a spell, while we go down to
lunch. I am not sorry to give it up for a bit, for it has been jerking
like the kick of a horse.

"That's right, Jack, han