fiddles on, and by eleven o'clock it was as much as one could do



to stand in the cabin, while the water was washing freely over

the deck. Fortunately, however, the wind veered more aft of us,



so that by putting about her head a little (seamen must forgive

me if I talk of these matters as a landlubber) we ran almost



before the wind, though not quite in the direction that we wished

to go.



When the light came it was blowing very hard indeed, and the

sky was utterly overcast, so that we got no glimpse of the sun,



or of the stars on the following night. Unfortunately, there was

no moon visible; indeed, if there had been I do not suppose that



it would have helped us because of the thick pall of clouds. For

quite seventy-two hours we ran on beneath bare poles before that



gale. The little vessel behaved splendidly, riding the seas like

a duck, but I could see that Captain Astley was growing alarmed.



When I said something complimentary to him about the conduct of

the Star of the South, he replied that she was forging ahead all



right, but the question was--where to? He had been unable to take

an observation of any sort since we left Samoa; both his patent



logs had been carried away, so that now only the compass

remained, and he had not the slightest idea where we were in that



great ocean studded with atolls and islands.

I asked him whether we could not steam back to our proper



course, but he answered that to do so he would have to travel

dead in the eye of the gale, and he doubted whether the engines



would stand it. Also there was the question of coal to be

considered. However, he had kept the fires going and would do



what he could if the weather moderated.

That night during dinner which now consisted of tinned foods



and whisky and water, for the seas had got to the galley fire,

suddenly the gale dropped, whereat we rejoiced exceedingly. The



captain came down into the saloon very white and shaken, I

thought, and I asked him to have a nip of whisky to warm him up,



and to celebrate our good fortune in having run out of the wind.

He took the bottle and, to my alarm, poured out a full half



tumbler of spirit, which he swallowed undiluted in two or three

gulps.



"That's better!" he said with a hoarse laugh. "But man, what is

it you are saying about having run out of the wind? Look at the



glass!"

"We have," said Bastin, "and it is wonderfully steady. About 29



degrees or a little over, which it has been for the last three

days."



Again Astley laughed in a mirthless fashion, as he answered:

"Oh, that thing! That's the passengers' glass. I told the



'steward to put it out of gear so that you might not be

frightened; it is an old trick. Look at this," and he produced



one of the portablevariety out of his pocket.

We looked, and it stood somewhere between 27 degrees and 28



degrees.

"That's the lowest glass I ever saw in the Polynesian or any



other seas during thirty years. It's right, too, for I have

tested it by three others," he said.



"What does it mean?" I asked rather anxiously.

"South Sea cyclone of the worst breed," he replied. "That



cursed Dane knew it was coming and that's why he left the ship.

Pray as you never prayed before," and again he stretched out his



hand towards the whisky bottle. But I stepped between him and it,

shaking my head. Thereon he laughed for the third time and left



the cabin. Though I saw him once or twice afterwards, these were

really the last words of intelligible conversation that I ever



had with Captain Astley.

"It seems that we are in some danger," said Bastin, in an



unmoved kind of way. "I think that was a good idea of the

captain's, to put up a petition, I mean, but as Bickley will



scarcely care to join in it I will go into the cabin and do so

myself."



Bickley snorted, then said:

"Confound that captain! Why did he play such a trick upon us



about the barometer? Humphrey, I believe he had been drinking."

"So do I," I said, looking at the whisky bottle. "Otherwise,



after taking those precautions to keep us in the dark, he would

not have let on like that."

• thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)


• competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən] n.比赛；竞争 (初中英语单词)


• scholar [´skɔlə, ´skɑ-] n.学者；奖学金获得者 (初中英语单词)


• faculty [´fækəlti] n.才干；天赋；院，系 (初中英语单词)


• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)


• dialect [´daiəlekt] n.方言，土语，地方话 (初中英语单词)


• planet [´plænit] n.行星 (初中英语单词)


• visitor [´vizitə] n.访问者；来宾；参观者 (初中英语单词)


• sandwich [´sænwidʒ, ´sændwitʃ] n.三明治，夹心面包片 (初中英语单词)


• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)


• marvelous [´mɑ:viləs] (=marvellous) a.奇异的 (初中英语单词)


• supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)


• wherever [weər´evə] conj.无论在哪里 (初中英语单词)


• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)


• thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)


• ashore [ə´ʃɔ:] ad.向岸上 (初中英语单词)


• shortly [´ʃɔ:tli] ad.立刻，马上；不久 (初中英语单词)


• doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)


• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)


• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)


• anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)


• envelope [´envələup] n.信封，封皮 (初中英语单词)


• opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)


• preserve [pri´zə:v] v.保藏 n.保藏物 (初中英语单词)


• obligation [,ɔbli´geiʃən] n.义务；职责；合约 (初中英语单词)


• contain [kən´tein] v.包含；容纳；抑制 (初中英语单词)


• reflection [ri´flekʃən] n.反射；映象；想法 (初中英语单词)


• capable [´keipəbəl] a.有能力；能干的 (初中英语单词)


• freely [´fri:li] ad.自由地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)


• glimpse [glimps] n.&v.瞥见 (初中英语单词)


• visible [´vizəbəl] a.可见的；明显的 (初中英语单词)


• vessel [´vesəl] n.容器；船；脉管 (初中英语单词)


• unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)


• observation [,ɔbzə´veiʃən] n.观测；注意；意义 (初中英语单词)


• shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• celebrate [´selibreit] vt.庆祝；表扬；赞美 (初中英语单词)


• variety [və´raiəti] n.变化；多样(性)；种类 (初中英语单词)


• strode [strəud] stride的过去式 (高中英语单词)


• principally [´prinsəpli] ad.主要地；大体上 (高中英语单词)


• advertise [´ædvətaiz] v.登(做)广告；通知 (高中英语单词)


• easter [´i:stə] n.(耶稣)复活节 (高中英语单词)


• investigate [in´vestigeit] v.调查(研究) (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• inland [´inlənd, in´lænd] a.&n.内地的 ad.在内地 (高中英语单词)


• implore [im´plɔ:] vt.乞求，恳求 (高中英语单词)


• refrain [ri´frein] v.抑制；忍住 n.迭句 (高中英语单词)


• disagreeable [,disə´gri:əbl] a.令人不悦的 (高中英语单词)


• roughly [´rʌfli] ad.粗糙地；毛糙地 (高中英语单词)


• fortunately [´fɔ:tʃənətli] ad.幸运地 (高中英语单词)


• unfortunately [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunitli] ad.不幸；不朽；可惜 (高中英语单词)


• forging [´fɔ:dʒiŋ] n.锻件；锻造(法) (高中英语单词)


• exceedingly [ik´si:diŋli] ad.非常地，极度地 (高中英语单词)


• saloon [sə´lu:n] n.大厅；餐车 (高中英语单词)


• petition [pi´tiʃən] n.请愿 vt.向…请愿 (高中英语单词)


• danish [´deiniʃ] a.&n.丹麦人(语)(的) (英语四级单词)


• unaware [,ʌnə´weə] a.不知道的；不觉察的 (英语四级单词)


• reputation [repju´teiʃən] n.名誉；名声；信誉 (英语四级单词)


• hurricane [´hʌrikən] n.飓风 (英语四级单词)


• overboard [´əuvəbɔ:d] ad.向船外；到水中 (英语四级单词)


• whatsoever [,wɔtsəu´evə] (强势语)=whatever (英语四级单词)


• galley [´gæli] n.单层甲板大帆船 (英语四级单词)


• whereat [weər´æt] ad.对于…；在这里 (英语四级单词)


• hoarse [hɔ:s] a.嘶哑的；嗓门粗哑的 (英语四级单词)


• wonderfully [´wʌndəfuli] ad.令人惊讶地；奇妙地 (英语四级单词)


• departed [di´pɑ:tid] a.已往的；已故的 (英语六级单词)


• sydney [´sidni] n.悉尼 (英语六级单词)


• hawaii [hɑ:´waii:] n.夏威夷(州) (英语六级单词)


• guinea [´gini] n.几尼(英国旧金币) (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)


• calling [´kɔ:liŋ] n.点名；职业；欲望 (英语六级单词)


• suspense [sə´spens] n.悬挂；悬虑不安 (英语六级单词)


• enclosure [in´kləuʒə] n.包围；围墙；封入物 (英语六级单词)


• cyclone [´saikləun] n.旋风，飓风 (英语六级单词)


• sundown [´sʌndaun] n.日落 (英语六级单词)


• splendidly [´splendidli] ad.光彩夺目地；辉煌地 (英语六级单词)


• portable [´pɔ:təbəl] a.轻便的 n.手提打字机 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)