n Sea of Celebes, and again shifted
their helm.

Thus far nothing of importance had happened; they had enjoyed glorious
weather, and found almost constant entertainment in watching the various
craft fallen in with, and the beautiful pictures offered to their gaze
by the islands that they had passed. But on the evening that witnessed
their entrance into the Sea of Celebes there were indications that a
change of weather was impending. A somewhat rapid decline of the
mercury in the tube of the barometer was the first symptom, and this was
quickly followed by a dimming of the hitherto crystalline blue of the
sky that produced a wild, fiery, smoky sunset, suggestive of a whole
continent ablaze away down there to the westward. As the darkness
closed in there were but few stars to be seen, and they quickly vanished
in the mistiness that gradually obscured the heavens. The moon, now
near the full, appeared for a short time as a shapeless film of hazy
light, and then she also vanished. The north-east monsoon, which had
been blowing fresh and steadily for the last few days, died away, and
the stagnant air became close and suffocatingly hot.

"Phew!" exclaimed Sir Reginald, as the party stepped out on deck; "this
is the hottest night we have had this trip, and stark calm. What does
it mean, skipper? I thought that we were now in the monsoon region."

"So we are; but, as you see, the wind has fallen calm," answered
Mildmay. "Moreover, the mercury is dropping a good deal faster than I
like; and this thickening up of the atmosphere means bad weather; I am
sure of it."

"_Very_ bad weather, do you mean, Mildmay, or merely a bit of a breeze?"
questioned Sir Reginald.

"Something very much worse than `a bit of a breeze,' I imagine," was the
reply. "Indeed, it would not greatly surprise me to find that we are in
for a regular typhoon."

"A typhoon!" ejaculated Lethbridge, who was standing close by; "that
means something pretty bad, doesn't it?"

"Well, about the same sort of thing as we encountered upon the memorable
occasion when we saved the life of the lady who is now our charming and
gracious hostess," answered Mildmay.

"What is that? Are you talking about me?" demanded Lady Olivia, who, a
few feet away, had happened to catch the word "hostess."

"Mildmay has just been telling us, my dear, that appearances point to
the approach of a gale of somewhat similar character to that which
occurred in the Bay of Bengal o