Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/151

 ROUGH WEATHER. 12$ That compasSy too» although he knew it not, was mis- leadirig him entirely ! Mrs. Weldon sighed as she witnessed the grief whîch the loss manifestly caused poor Dick, but în purest sympathy she said nothing, and retîred thoughtfully to her cabin. It was no longer possible to reckon the rate of progress, but there was no doubt that the " Pilgrim " continued to maintain at least her previous speed. Before another four-and-twenty hours had passed the barometer had fallen still lower, and the wind was threaten- ing to rise to a velocity of sixty miles. Resolved to be on the safe side, Dick determined not only to strike the top- gallant and the main-top-mast, but to take in ail the lower sails. Indeed, he began to be aware that no time was to be lost. The opération would not be done în a moment, and the storm was approaching. Dick made Tom take the helm ; he ascended the shrouds with Bat, Austin, and Actaeon, making Hercules stay on deck to slacken the halyards as required. Bydint of arduous exertion, and at no little rîsk of being thrown overboard by the rolling of the ship, they succeeded in lowering the two masts ; the fore-top-sail was then reefed, and the fore-sail entirely struck, so that the only canvas that the schooner carried was the reefed fore-top and the one stay. Thèse, however, made her run with a terrifie speed. Earlyon the moming of the I2th, Dick noted with alarm that the barometer had not ceased to fall, and now registered only 27.9°. The tempest had continued to increase, till it was unsafe for the ship to carry any canvas at ail. The order was given for the top-sail to be taken in, but it was too late ; a violent gust carried the sail completely away, and Austin, who had made hîs way to the fore-top-yard, was struck by the flying sheet ; and although he was not seriously hurt, he was obliged at once to return to deck. Dick Sands became more uneasy than ever ; he was tortured by appréhensions of reefs outlying the shore, to which he îmagined he must now be close *, bul v^ covXÔl