Above, a fresh breeze had set in and whipped the seething waters into glowing balls, while showers of sparkling foam covered the entire deck. As far as the eye could reach the surface of the sea was one pale glowing mass, through which our boat ploughed its way in furrows of fire. We stood transfixed as the phenomenon increased in intensity with the sea and wind. All the men off duty came up and stared out at this enchanting spectacle, little heeding the seas which swept over the deck, soaking many of them through to the skin. "It looks like fire, don't it? But blowed if it don't put yer pipe out," remarked our giant boatswain. A spurt had just extinguished his pipe for the third time, and he reluctantly decided to store the beloved stump carefully in his pocket. But the "fire" grew wetter and wetter, and within half an hour the officers on duty and look-out stood once more alone up in the conning-tower. When we got out of the Gulf Stream we had several days of stiff north-westerly winds and high seas, until, on the ---- August, we ran into fine weather again. On one of the following evenings the first officer on duty, Krapohl, was standing with Humke in the conning-tower scanning the horizon without ceasing, through the glasses, at a point where the pale sky seemed to merge into the sea without any observable boundary line. "Light ahead," announced Humke suddenly. "If you mean that star, I've noticed it already," the officer replied, calmly lowering his glasses. "Wal, I dunno, but that there ain't no star, Herr Krapohl," the sailor replied, unabashed. The two called out to me, and I came expectantly out of the tower, took the glasses and then laughed. "Humke, you're on the wrong track!" for I noticed high up above the horizon a faint white light which stood too high, judging by its strength, to be a ship's light. The boatswain stolidly maintained his opinion, however. "Cap'n, that there ain't no star." I handed him the glasses which he, however, put aside at once, remarking: "Ye can't see nothink properly with them things." He shut his eyes tightly, then took another sharp look and said in decided tones: "That ain't no star; that be a light!" We stared before us with increased sharpness till I was able at last to make out through the glasses a red glow which now became visible to the right of the white light. Now we knew that a steamer was approaching us. At first I held her to be a small vessel, particularly as, to begin with, the height of the two lights differed but slightly--the red port light of the steamer was not much below the white light. But soon I was surprised to observe how noticeably the red light moved, that is to say, how quickly the space between the two lights appeared to increase. From this there was only one possible conclusion to be drawn, and that was that the vessel was approaching with extraordinary rapidity.