e bows, and sent stinging
showers of spray against the canvas shield of the bridge. Instead of
the natty white drill uniform and canvas shoes of the tropics, the
ship's officers donned oilskins, sou'westers, and sea-boots. Torrents
swept the decks, and an occasional giant among waves smote the hull
with a thunderous blow under which every rivet rattled and every plank
creaked. Despite these drawbacks, the _Andromeda_ wormed her way
south. She behaved like the stanch old sea-prowler that she was, and
labored complainingly but with stubborn zeal in the teeth of a stiff
gale.

Iris, of course, thought that she was experiencing the storm of a
century. Badly scared at first, she regained some stock of courage
when Hozier came twice to her cabin, pounded on the door, and shouted
to her such news as he thought would take her mind off the outer
furies! The first time he announced that they were just "crossing the
line," and the girl smiled at the thought that Neptune's chosen lair
was uncommonly like the English Channel at its worst. On the second
occasion her visitor brought the cheering news that they would be under
the lee of Fernando Noronha early next morning. She had sufficient sea
lore to understand that this implied shelter from wind and wave, but
Hozier omitted to tell her that the only practicable roadstead in the
island, being on the weather side, would be rendered unsafe by the
present adverse combination of the elements. In fact, Coke had already
called both Watts and Hozier into council, and they had agreed with him
that the wiser plan would be to bear in towards the island from the
east, and anchor in smooth water as close to South Point as the lead
would permit.

As for Iris's wild foreboding that the ship was intended to be lost,
Philip did not give it other than a passing thought. Coke was
navigating the _Andromeda_ with exceeding care and no little skill. He
was a first-rate practical sailor, and it was an education to the
younger man to watch his handling of the vessel throughout the worst
part of the blow. About midnight the weather moderated. It improved
steadily until a troubled dawn heralded some fitful gleams of the sun.
By that time the magnificent Peak of Fernando Noronha was plainly
visible. Coke came to the bridge and set a new course, almost due
west. The sun struggled with increasing success against the cloud
battalions, and patches of blue appeared in sky and sea. Soon it was
p