The wind seemed most ominous of all. It was as though it came from afar off, down behind the horizon line that showed black, with a fringe of angry yellow in the west. A low, mumbling, roaring, moaning wind it was, that whistled mournfully through the rigging of the schooner, and howled down the companionways. "Oh dear!" sighed Ruth, as she slipped her arm into that of her sister, and started for their cabin. "Come on, Alice. I'm afraid!" "Nonsense! What of? Nothing has happened--yet." "No, but there is going to be a terrible storm!" "And I just love a blow. I've never seen one at sea, and, as this may be the only chance I'll get, I'm not going to miss it. Stay up with me, Ruth. Don't be like those sillies, and go below," and she motioned to Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon who were scurrying for cover, as the wind and the sea increased. "Well, I'll stay up a little while," agreed Ruth. "But I--I'm afraid all the same." "Nonsense!" cried Alice gaily. "We have a good ship under us. It went through a mutiny, and I guess it can weather a storm." "That's just the point--can it?" asked Ruth in a low voice. "What do you mean?" Alice asked in a curiously strained voice. "I mean that this is an old vessel, 'made over,' as we would say of a dress, Alice, it can't be as good and strong as a new one would be, and in a storm----" "Oh, don't be nervous!" broke in Alice. "Here, I'll ask Mr. Blake," and she stopped the first mate who was hurrying to and fro directing the men at their work of making everything snug below and aloft. "Isn't she safe, Mr. Blake?" Alice appealed. "Who?" the first mate wanted to know. "This ship." "I--I think so," he said. "Yes, surely," he added quickly. "We will ride out the storm, never fear. It hasn't gotten here yet, and we may only get the outer edge of it. But you must excuse me now," and he hastened along the deck. "There!" cried Alice. "What did I tell you?" she asked triumphantly. "Well, I'll stay here with you a little while," Ruth agreed. "Then I'm going below and----" "Bundle up all your possessions and sit on a life preserver," broke in Alice with a laugh. "Oh, Ruth, you are--hopeless!" "Yes, but look at that!" and the older sister pointed to the west. There had been a rapid change. There was more yellow in the clouds now and less blackness, though there was enough of that ominous color too. "Doesn't it scare you, Alice?" "Not so much, no. Of course I've never been in a bad storm down here, and I don't know what they do to one. But I think we'll weather it, as the sailors say. But I wonder what Mr. Pertell is doing?" She motioned to the manager who was seen amidships, talking to Russ, the chief camera operator. They were near the big motorboat _Ajax_, which still rested in the cradle on deck. Mr. DeVere was also in conversation with the manager and his chief helper. "Let's go over and see what it is," suggested Alice. "Maybe they are frightened too."