found Mr. Mellaire. He
was wide awake, but under no strain. Evidently it had not entered his
mind to consider, much less question, the manoeuvre of wearing ship the
previous afternoon.

"The gale is breaking," he told me, waving his mittened hand at a starry
segment of sky momentarily exposed by the thinning clouds.

But where was Mr. Pike? Did the second mate know he was on deck? I
proceeded to feel Mr. Mellaire out as we worked our way aft, along the
mad poop toward the wheel. I talked about the difficulty of sleeping in
stormy weather, stated the restlessness and semi-insomnia that the
violent motion of the ship caused in me, and raised the query of how bad
weather affected the officers.

"I noticed Captain West, in the chart-room, as I came up, sleeping like a
baby," I concluded.

We leaned in the lee of the chart-house and went no farther.

"Trust us to sleep just the same way, Mr. Pathurst," the second mate
laughed. "The harder the weather the harder the demand on us, and the
harder we sleep. I'm dead the moment my head touches the pillow. It
takes Mr. Pike longer, because he always finishes his cigarette after he
turns in. But he smokes while he's undressing, so that he doesn't
require more than a minute to go deado. I'll wager he hasn't moved,
right now, since ten minutes after twelve."

So the second mate did not dream the first was even on deck. I went
below to make sure. A small sea-lamp was burning in Mr. Pike's room, and
I saw his bunk unoccupied. I went in by the big stove in the dining-room
and warmed up, then again came on deck. I did not go near the weather
cloth, where I was certain Mr. Mellaire was; but, keeping along the lee
of the poop, I gained the bridge and started for'ard.

I was in no hurry, so I paused often in that cold, wet journey. The gale
was breaking, for again and again the stars glimmered through the
thinning storm-clouds. On the 'midship-house was no Mr. Pike. I crossed
it, stung by the freezing, flying spray, and carefully reconnoitred the
top of the for'ard-house, where, in such bad weather, I knew the lookout
was stationed. I was within twenty feet of them, when a wider clearance
of starry sky showed me the figures of the lookout, whoever he was, and
of Mr. Pike, side by side. Long I watched them, not making my presence
known, and I knew that the old mate's eyes were boring like gimlets into
the windy darkness that separated the _Elsinore_ from the thunde