ptain West, for Mr. Pike, yes, and for Mr. Mellaire,
dislike him as I do.

As early as three in the afternoon the wind, still a gale, went back to
the south-west. Mr. Mellaire had the deck, and he went below and
reported the change to Captain West.

"We'll wear ship at four, Mr. Pathurst," the second mate told me when he
came back. "You'll find it an interesting manoeuvre."

"But why wait till four?" I asked.

"The Captain's orders, sir. The watches will be changing, and we'll have
the use of both of them, without working a hardship on the watch below by
calling it out now."

And when both watches were on deck Captain West, again in oilskins, came
out of the chart-house. Mr. Pike, out on the bridge, took charge of the
many men who, on deck and on the poop, were to manage the mizzen-braces,
while Mr. Mellaire went for'ard with his watch to handle the fore-and
main-braces. It was a pretty manoeuvre, a play of leverages, by which
they cased the force of the wind on the after part of the _Elsinore_ and
used the force of the wind on the for'ard part.

Captain West gave no orders whatever, and, to all intents, was quite
oblivious of what was being done. He was again the favoured passenger,
taking a stroll for his health's sake. And yet I knew that both his
officers were uncomfortably aware of his presence and were keyed to their
finest seamanship. I know, now, Captain West's position on board. He is
the brains of the _Elsinore_. He is the master strategist. There is
more in directing a ship on the ocean than in standing watches and
ordering men to pull and haul. They are pawns, and the two officers are
pieces, with which Captain West plays the game against sea, and wind, and
season, and ocean current. He is the knower. They are his tongue, by
which he makes his knowledge articulate.

* * * * *

A bad night--equally bad for the _Elsinore_ and for me. She is receiving
a sharp buffeting at the hands of the wintry North Atlantic. I fell
asleep early, exhausted from lack of sleep, and awoke in an hour, frantic
with my lumped and burning skin. More cream of tartar, more reading,
more vain attempts to sleep, until shortly before five, when the steward
brought me my coffee, I wrapped myself in my dressing-gown, and like a
being distracted prowled into the cabin. I dozed in a leather chair and
was thrown out by a violent roll of the ship. I tried the sofa, sinking
to sleep immediately, and immediately there