g up your oilskin there. Johnson, give us a
couple of towels; we have been pretty well smothered up there on deck.
Now what have you got for us?"

"There is some soup ready, sir, and that cold pie you had for dinner
yesterday."

"That will do; open a couple of bottles of stout."

Lunch over, they went on deck again.

"She likes a good blow as well as we do," Virtue said enthusiastically,
as the yawl rose lightly over each wave. "What do you think of it,
Watkins? Is the wind going to lull a bit as the sun goes down?"

"I think not, sir. It seems to me it's blowing harder than it was."

"Then we will prepare for the worst, Watkins; get the trysail up on
deck. When you are ready we will bring her up into the wind and set it.
That's the comfort of a yawl, Jack; one can always lie to without any
bother, and one hasn't got such a tremendous boom to handle."

The trysail was soon on deck, and then the Seabird was brought up into
the wind, the weather foresheet hauled aft, the mizzen sheeted almost
fore and aft, and the Seabird lay, head to wind, rising and falling with
a gentle motion, in strong contrast to her impetuous rushes when under
sail.

"She would ride out anything like that," her owner said. "Last time
we came through the Bay on our way from Gib. we were caught in a gale
strong enough to blow the hair off one's head, and we lay to for nearly
three days, and didn't ship a bucket of water all the time. Now let us
lend a hand to get the mainsail stowed."

Ten minutes' work and it was securely fastened and its cover on; two
reefs were put in the trysail. Two hands went to each of the halliards,
while, as the sail rose, Tom Virtue fastened the toggles round the mast.

"All ready, Watkins?"

"All ready, sir."

"Slack off the weather foresheet, then, and haul aft the leeward. Slack
out the mizzen sheet a little, Jack. That's it; now she's off again,
like a duck."

The Seabird felt the relief from the pressure of the heavy boom to
leeward and rose easily and lightly over the waves.

"She certainly is a splendid seaboat, Tom; I don't wonder you are ready
to go anywhere in her. I thought we were rather fools for starting this
morning, although I enjoy a good blow; but now I don't care how hard it
comes on."

By night it was blowing a downright gale.

"We will lie to till morning, Watkins. So that we get in by daylight
tomorrow evening, that is all we want. See our side lights are burning
well, and you had