sense of
duty made him read the service to a finish, and it was with evident
relief he closed the book, saying, "Amen! Haul th' mains'l up, Mister,
an' stand by t' square mainyards! ... Keep th' watch on deck; it's
'all hands'--thon," pointing to the black murk spreading swiftly over
the weather sky.

We dragged the wet and heavy mains'l to the yard and stood by, waiting
for the wind. Fitful gusts came, driving the rain in savage, searching
bursts; then would come a deadly lull, and the rain beating on us,
straight from above--a pitiless downpour. It was bitter cold, we were
drenched and depressed as we stood shivering at the braces, and we
wished for the wind to come, to get it over; anything would be better
than this inaction.

A gust came out of the sou'-west, and we had but squared the yards when
we heard the sound of a master wind on the water.

Shrieking with fury long withheld, the squall was upon us. We felt the
ship stagger to the first of the blast; a furious plunge and she was
off--smoking through the white-lashed sea, feather-driven before the
gale. It could not last; no fabric would stand to such a race. "Lower
away tops'l halyards!" yelled the Old Man, his voice scarce audible in
the shrilling of the squall. The bo'sun, at the halyards, had but
started the yard when the sheet parted; instant, the sail was in
ribbons, thrashing savagely adown the wind. It was the test for the
weakest link, and the squall had found it, but our spars were safe to
us, and, eased of the press, we ran still swiftly on. We set about
securing the gear, and in action we gave little thought to the event
that had marked our day; but there was that in the shriek of wind in
the rigging, in the crash of sundered seas under the bows, in the cries
of men at the downhauls and the thundering of the torn canvas that sang
fitting Requiem for the passing of our aged mariner.

XXI

DOLDRUMS

"Lee fore-brace!"

Mister M'Kellar stepped from the poop and cast off the brace coils with
an air of impatience. It wanted but half an hour of 'knocking off
time'--and that half-hour would be time enough, for his watch to finish
the scraping of the deck-house--but the wind waits on no man, and
already the weather clew of the mainsail was lifting lazily to a shift.
It was hard to give up the prospect of having the house all finished
and ship-shape before the Mate came on deck (and then trimming yards
and sail after the _work_ was