aged aunt. Well, we floundered across
the Bay of Biscay, and ran down the trades, and in twenty-seven days
from leaving England with a freezing north wind, we were baking under
the line with 95 degrees in the shade shown on our thermometer. The
skipper had shoved a couple of our men in irons for very slight offences
during our run, and seemed to be a greater brute than ever. He was one
of those fellows who acted like an angel on shore, so pleasant and kind,
but when he got afloat in blue water, he wasn't an angel exactly, at
least not the right sort of angel.

"We jogged on, however, till we passed round the Cape; we gave it a wide
berth, and kept well off the bank, to avoid the current that runs from
the east all down that coast for seventy miles' distance. We were about
off Cape L'Agulhas, when the north-west wind that we had carried with us
from near South America, turned round and blew right in our teeth; we
had plenty of wind in our jib then, it blew great guns, and we were
under close-reefed topsails for a week. One night I was on watch, and
finding that it was blowing harder than ever, and the ship was making
very bad weather of it, I thought I would go down and ask the skipper's
leave to lay-to. I dived down the hatchway and knocked twice at the
captain's cabin-door before I received an answer; at last I heard his
`come in.' I opened the door and was about to report the gale
increased, but was stopped by the appearance of the captain. He was as
white as a sheet, and his eyes were staring like a maniac's. Before I
could speak a word, he said, `Have you seen her?' I did not know what
he meant, but said, `Beg pardon, sir, the ship is making very bad
weather of it.' He cursed the weather, and repeated, `did you see my
wife as you came in?' I said, `see your wife! No!'

"He stared at me for an instant and then dropped on his couch, and said,
`God have mercy on me.' It was the first time I had ever heard him use
that sacred name, although the evil one's was pretty often in his mouth.
I then asked him about the ship, when he told me to go and do what I
thought best. I went up and took all the canvas off, with the exception
of the mizen-trysail. I got the peak lowered down to the deck and
showed but a pocket-handkerchief sort of sail; this kept her head to
wind. I had a guy made fast to the boom, which kept it firm, and lashed
the helm; we then rode like a duck on the water.

"I turned in as usual aft