moon was obscured with every fresh gust. High overhead a clear, steely
sky was flecked here and there with fleecy white, and, ever and again,
the moon slipped her mantle of cloud from her rounded shoulder, and
looked around her with large, calm glances. But there was an
evil-looking sky away to the eastward, and the black wreaths 'of cloud
crept steadily upward, obscuring little by little the fair, glittering
sky. The swift waves gathered volume, and soon their hollows were like
great Panpipes through which the gale blew with many doleful sounds.
Everything to be seen on sea or sky promised a wild night, and the
powerful schooner yacht which was charging along over the running seas
was already reefed down closely. Light bursts of spray came aboard aft
like flying whip-lashes, and the man at the wheel stolidly shook his
head as the jets cut him. Right forward a slight sea sometimes came over
with a crash, but the vessel was in no trouble, and she looked as if she
could hold her own in a much worse breeze. I believe that only poets and
landsmen are fond of bad weather; and the steersman occasionally threw a
demure, quizzical glance at a young girl who was hanging on by one hand
to the companion hatch. The wind had heightened her colour, and the
chance gleams of the moon showed the girl's face as a flash of warm
brightness in the chill dreariness of the night. It was a strange place
and strange weather for a young lady to be out in, for the autumn was
far advanced, and the deadly gales might be expected at any time; but
this young person was in no way discomposed. There was something almost
weird in the sight of that glowing young face, placid amid the fitful
drifts; the screaming gusts caught at tiny stray curls of her dark hair;
the vessel advanced with short plunges, and the flashing broad stream
went past with that eerie moan which always makes me think of dire
things. The girl looked quietly forward, and it seemed as if her spirit
was unmoved by the tumult. She looked almost stern, for her broad brows
were a little bent, but her mouth was firm and kindly, and her very