n the mercury
kept fallin' until it sank out o' sight altogether; and the skipper had
actually given the order to furl the taups'ls and send the yards and
masts down when the cabin steward happened to make the discovery that
the mercury bag had busted and the mercury from the barometer was
rollin' in little balls all over the cabin floor! My mate told me that
the time in which they got that there _Pyramus_ ataunto again, that day,
and the royals upon her, was never a'terwards beaten!"

I could not avoid a good hearty laugh at this quaint story of a
phenomenal fall of the mercury in a barometer; for it was easy to
conjure up a picture of the rapidly growing alarm and dismay of the
captain as he watched the steady and speedy shrinkage of the metallic
column, and of the feverish anxiety and haste with which he would
proceed with his preparations to meet the swoop of the supposedly
approaching typhoon, as also of his disgust at the discovery that all
his alarm and anxiety had been brought about by the unsuspected leakage
of a leather bag! But the story served as a hint to me; what had
happened once might happen again; and I forthwith retired to the cabin
and carefully examined our own instrument to discover whether, haply,
such an accident had occurred in our case. But no, the bag into which
the base of the glass tube was plunged was perfectly sound and intact;
and, meanwhile, during my brief colloquy with Tasker a further fall of a
full tenth had occurred. I lost no time in returning to the deck.

"The scare is quite genuine this time, Mr Tasker," I said; "there is no
leakage in our mercury bag to account for the heavy drop; moreover, the
drop has increased by a full tenth. Therefore, although the present
aspect of the weather may not be precisely alarming, we will proceed to
snug down at once, if you please, in view of the fact that the crew we
carry is not precisely what might be called efficient, and will probably
take an unconscionably long time over the work."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered Tasker. "I expect the mercury ain't droppin'
exactly for nothin', therefore, as you says, we'd better be makin' ready
for what's in store for us." Then, facing forward, he gave the order:

"Clew up your royal and t'garns'l, furl 'em, and then get the yards down
on deck. Hurry, you scallywags; the more work you does now, the more
time for play will you have a'ter breakfast."

The "snugging down" process occupied us until nearl