"Here it is, sure enough," said the captain, "from the southwest. Up
with the men forward once more, Mr. Faulkner!--we must humor our
beauty."

"All hands oil deck!" shouted the mate at the hatch--an order which as
before was perfectly obeyed.

Almost as quickly as the foremast had been stripped of the square rig it
had at first borne, it was once more clothed again with its topsail and
mainsail, and in less than fifteen minutes the "Sea Witch" was under a
cloud of canvass, with studd'nsails out on both sides, while the fore
and aft sails on the main and mizzen were boomed out wing and wing dead
before the wind. The staysails and jibs were hauled down now as useless,
and the vessel flew like a courser. The change of wind had brought the
sea up, and the vessel had a gradual roll, causing the waves now and
then to come gracefully in over the waist, while the extreme fore and
aft parts of the handsome craft were perfectly dry.

"It has set her to waltzing, Mr. Faulkner," said his superior; "but she
improves her speed upon to it, and I think the breeze freshens from this
new quarter."

"Yes, sir. Do you see the long bank of white hereaway to the
south-southwest; it looks like a fog bank, but may be a squall," said
the mate.

"There are few squalls in these latitudes, Mr. Faulkner, and yet I don't
like the looks of the weather in the southern board," said the captain,
as he gazed to windward, with a quick, searching glance.