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, the lowest extremity of Formosa, was passed on the following day, a mere speck upon the horizon, and then the bow of the gallant Columbia was turned directly for Hong Kong.

As one day after another went by, the weather, which had heretofore been nearly all that could be desired, changed with great suddenness. One day it would be blazing hot, so hot that no one could stand it on the deck during midday; the next it would be cold, with high winds and a driving rain from the northward, which sent the schooner scudding southward under bare poles, and caused every stick of timber to creak and groan in a manner new to Larry's ears.

"I knowed we would pay up for all that niceness," grumbled Luke Striker, as he came into the forecastle one afternoon drenched to the skin. "We're going to have a spell of the dirtiest weather you ever saw; mark my words."