b. I
decided to bend the main-topsail first; and by the time that I had
completed my task the day was done and it was growing so dark that I
could scarcely see to finish off properly. Nevertheless I was very well
content with my day's work, for I now had canvas enough on the brig to
place her under command whenever the breeze might choose to come.

Meanwhile Miss Onslow had been no less busy than myself, in another way.
She had started by making herself complete mistress of the brig's
resources, looked at from a housekeeper's point of view; and in course
of the process had discovered--what I had already suspected, but had not
found time to verify--that outside the cabin, and alongside the
companion ladder, was another stateroom, that, judging from its
appearance and contents, had belonged to the mate. This cabin she had
overhauled, making an inventory of its contents--which she handed to
me--and had then tidied it up and made it ready for my occupation.
Moreover, she had taken possession of the galley, and had prepared a
good, substantial, and appetising dinner in a style that, if not quite
equal to that of a professional cook, betrayed at least an aptitude that
was as creditable as it was opportune. She had also found time to do
something--I had not the remotest idea what--to her dress that had gone
a considerable way toward renovating its appearance and obliterating the
disfigurement caused by the action of the sea water upon it; while in
other ways she had spruced-up her appearance to an extent that excited
my fervent but carefully-concealed admiration.

At sunset that night it was still stark calm, and the sky had a fine,
clear, settled aspect that, combined with a slight disposition to rise
on the part of the brig's barometer, led me to anticipate that the calm
was destined to endure for a few hours longer. For this I was devoutly
thankful, for I had been toiling like a slave all day, fully exposed to
the scorching rays of a cloudless sun, and I was fatigued to the verge
of exhaustion; it was a great comfort, therefore, to feel that I should
not be called upon to look after the ship all night, but might safely
indulge in a few hours' sleep. That I might do so with the greater
confidence, I routed out a tarpaulin from below, and with it rigged up a
tent on the wheel grating, as a shelter from the heavy dew; bringing up
the bed from the mate's bunk, and turning in on deck. This arrangement
ensured that in the