ork to clew up, haul down, and stow everything save the two
topsails and the fore-topmast staysail; after which he ordered them to
go to dinner.

Dinner in the cabin was served at the same time as in the forecastle on
board the _Mermaid_; when Leslie and Miss Trevor, therefore, went below,
the deck was left in charge of one man only, namely the carpenter.
This, however, did not particularly matter, since the brig was well
snugged down, while Chips might be trusted to keep a sharp look-out and
give timely warning of the approach of anything of an alarming nature.
Nothing, however, occurred; and Leslie and his companion were allowed to
finish their meal undisturbed.

It was now Leslie's watch below, and in the ordinary course of events he
would have retired to his cabin for the purpose of securing an hour or
two of rest. But, with such a lowering and portentous sky as that
overhead, he scarcely felt justified in entrusting the carpenter with
the sole responsibility and care of the brig for so long a time; and he
accordingly accompanied Miss Trevor on deck again.

They found the aspect of the sky more gloomy than ever; the clouds had
formed themselves into heavier masses, and donned a deeper tinge of
black than they had worn during the forenoon, and they were displaying a
still greater degree of activity. Tongues of cloud were still darting
out and back again, but they seemed no nearer to the formation of
waterspouts than during the morning; and Leslie began to think that,
perhaps, for once in a way he was going to prove a false prophet.
Meanwhile, although during the whole of the morning and up to that
moment, there had not been the faintest breath of wind, the two craft--
the barque and the brig--had closed on each other to within a distance
of some three miles, in the mysterious manner characteristic of craft
becalmed within sight of each other. The barque, Leslie noticed, had
followed his own example, and stripped to precisely the same canvas as
that exposed by the brig.

The conditions were not conducive to animated conversation; and judging
from Miss Trevor's brief replies to his remarks, that she would prefer
to be left to her own thoughts for awhile, he presently left her leaning
over the rail gazing at the barque--which the swing of the brig had now
brought abeam--and seating himself upon the short bench alongside the
companion, proceeded to fill a pipe. He was lighting it with an
ordinary match, the unshi