Then, the sea, with the exception of a faint throbbing swell as if proceeding from the deep breathing of Neptune below the surface, seeming to rise and fall with rhythmical regularity, was calm and still, unbroken by even the tiniest ripple; now, as far as the eye could reach, it was all life and motion, the billows leaping up and tossing their heads, crowned with wreaths of curling spray and growing larger and larger each moment in volume as they dashed onward madly before the wind. The ocean coursers seemed, indeed, like a pack of hounds pursuing the ship, gnashing their teeth in surf as they missed their prey, and then gathering themselves up again together to renew the chase, rolling against each other, boiling in eddies, clashing, dashing, swelling, breaking in sheets of foam, and presenting one seething mass of moving waters. Nothing is so wonderful as this sudden getting up of the sea after a spell of calm weather. It is like the sudden uprising of a giant in his wrath--one moment it is sleeping quietly, the next far and wide it is in a state of mad commotion, threatening destruction to those who brave the perils of the deep. The _Josephine_ sped bravely before the gale, unmindful of the stormy billows blustering after her, her speed enabling her easily as yet to outstrip the rollers, although she was only scudding under close-reefed topsails. She was not too heavily laden; and, being a good sea-boat, she rose easily on the lift of the waves, almost skimming the surface like one of Mother Carey's chickens, and jumping, as it were, from billow to billow as the wind urged her onward. "If we keep on long like this," observed Mr Marline grimly to the captain, "we'll soon lose all our easting, and have to begin our voyage over again!" "Never mind that," cheerfully answered Captain Miles. "The gale will only drive us into the Gulf Stream at the worst; and then, we'll have the assistance of the easterly current there in making our way home, when we have the chance of bearing up on our course again. We won't lose much in the end, you'll see." "All right, we'll see," said Mr Marline. "But, don't you think, sir, we may be running into the worst part of the gale?" "No, Marline, no; I don't believe that," replied the other. "You'll see that it will blow itself out presently and calm down to a steady breeze, when we'll be able to haul our wind, making that fair for us." "Don't you notice, though, captain," urged the mate, "that those clouds also sheer off in a contrary direction, showing that the upper currents of air are not affected by this wind at all--a proof that it is a sort of cyclone or hurricane?" "And if so," retorted Captain Miles, "it began in the south-east, where it is still blowing from; so, when it veers, it will be to the south and west, making a fair wind for us, as I said before." "Very good; you know best, sir," said Mr Marline in a way that showed he was still unconvinced.