pecting the
weather. "It's what I have been wishing for, as nothing else is likely
to clear us of this terrible fever." Before night his predictions were
verified, and the ship, under close-reefed topsails, was running on at
the rate of twelve knots or more an hour.

Emily and May found it far more difficult to attend to their charges
than during the calm; but they still persevered; and though it was very
hot between-decks, yet the sick people felt sensibly the change which
had occurred in the atmosphere.

For several days the "Crusader" ran on before the gale; sometimes,
indeed, the wind blew so hard, and the ship rolled and tossed and
tumbled about so much, that many wished the calm back again. One night
the thunder roared and rattled overhead with crashing peals; bright
lightning darted from the skies. All hands were on deck, for it was
impossible to say what might next occur. The masts strained and
cracked, and it seemed every instant that the canvas would be blown out
of the boltropes. The dark seas came rolling up astern, their crests
hissing and foaming, threatening to break over the poop. Several of the
gentlemen passengers were collected on deck. Suddenly a voice was
heard, exclaiming in a tone of terror, "What is that? Oh mercy, mercy!"
They looked aloft; at the end of the yardarm was a mass of bluish light
like a small globe. Charles saw Job Mawson standing not far off; his
knees were knocking together, his arms outstretched. Presently the
light began to move, and suddenly it appeared at the mainmast head;
there it remained stationary for some time.

"What is it?" exclaimed Job Mawson. "Oh, captain, do make it go away!"

"It is nothing very terrible," answered Bill Windy, who overheard him.
"We might easily box up that fellow, if it were worth while to go aloft
and catch him."

"Let no one make the attempt," said the captain. "I must not have you,
Mr Windy, or the men, risk your lives to catch a jack-o'-lantern. I
hope it's a sign that the gale is breaking, and that we shall have
moderate weather again before long."

Job Mawson did not appear as satisfied with this explanation of the
captain's as the rest of the passengers; he continued watching the light
with a terror-stricken glance, as if he expected something dreadful was
about to happen. At length, now travelling to one mast-head, now to the
other, and back again to the yardarm, it finally disappeared. The wind,
however, continued