“That boy!  That awful boy!” replied the nervous man.

“What about him?  Is he overboard?  Which side?  I’ll throw him a life-preserver!”

“No, he isn’t overboard!  He’s up there!  On the mast!  Oh!  Suppose he falls!  My nerves are in such a state!  This is an awful shock!  What a dreadful boy!  I wish he had never come aboard this ship, or else that I hadn’t!”

“Come on up!” cried Bob, all unconscious of the excitement he had created.  “It’s fine up here!”

“Oh!  I feel as if I was going to faint!” exclaimed Mr. Tarbill, growing paler than usual.

“Come down, Bob!” ordered Mr. Carr, making a trumpet of his hands.  “If it isn’t one thing it’s another,” thought the mate.  “I’ll be glad when this voyage is over.”

CHAPTER XV

THE STORM

Bob came down, wondering why he was not allowed to stay at the maintop for a while longer.

“Oh!  Oh!” exclaimed Mr. Tarbill when the boy reached the deck.  “You’ve given me such a fright!”

“I didn’t mean to,” replied Bob honestly enough.

“Oh, but you did!  I think I’ll have to go to my cabin and take some nerve medicine.”

The passenger left the deck, and Mr. Carr said: 

“Don’t do that again, Bob.”

“No, sir; not if you don’t want me to.”

“It’s too dangerous,” added the first mate.

Bob was not very sharply reprimanded by Captain Spark for this escapade, as the commander realized that the boy meant no harm.  But it was several days before Mr. Tarbill got over the shock.

Urged on by brisk winds the Eagle made excellent speed, and several days before he calculated he would reach it Captain Spark found his vessel “crossing the line”; that is, passing over the imaginary circle which marks the equator.  Bob enjoyed his life on board the ship more than ever, now that the tropics were reached.  The usual pranks were indulged in by the sailors when Father Neptune came aboard the day the line was crossed, and Bob came in for not a little horse-play.  But he did not mind it, and in turn he played several jokes on the sailors and was not rebuked.  It was a time of freedom from restraint.

Continuing on south, the Eagle passed from the hot region, and once more was in the temperate zone.  But now the weather, which had been fine for several weeks, began to show signs of a change.

“We’ll soon be in for a troublesome time,” said the captain as he sat in the main cabin one night, looking over some charts.

“How?” asked Bob.

“We’re approaching the Horn.  To navigate the Straits of Magellan is no small matter.  There are always more or less storms in that region, and I wish I was well through it.”

“Then we’re liable to have a hard passage?” “More than likely.”

The captain’s fears were verified.  A few days later, when they were within a hundred miles of the dreaded Straits, it began to blow.  There was a steady increase to the wind, and Captain Spark wore an anxious look as he paced the quarterdeck.