“The glass has fallen a long way since I looked at it at breakfast,” he said, as he returned.

“Then we are in for a blow,” the skipper said.  “I am new to these latitudes, but wherever you are you know what to do when there is a sudden lull in the wind, and a heavy fall in the glass.

“Now, lads, get her canvas off her.”

“All down, captain!”

“Every stitch.

“Andrews, do you and two others get down into the sail locker and bring up the storm jib, the small foresail, trysail, and storm mizzen.  If it is a tornado, we shan’t want to show much sail to it.”

“If we are going to have a tornado, captain, I should recommend that you get the mainsail loose from the hoops, put the cover on, roll it up tightly to the gaff and lash it to the bulwarks on one side, and get the boom off and lash it on the other side.”

“That will be a very good plan.  The lower we get the weight the better.”

When this was done, the topmast was also sent down and lashed by the sail.  The barrels, which were now all empty, were lowered down into the saloon, while the trysail was fastened to the hoops ready for hoisting, and all the reefs tied up.  A triangular mizzen was then hoisted, and a storm jib.

“We won’t get up the foresail at present,” the captain said.  “I have reefed it right down, sir, but I won’t hoist it until we have got the first blow over.”

“You had better see that everything is well secured on deck, and if I were you I would put the jib in stops.  We can break it out when we like; but from all accounts the first burst of these tornadoes is terrible.  I should leave the mizzen on her; that will bring her head up to it, whichever way it comes, and she will lie to under that and the jib.”

“Yes, sir; but it is likely enough that we shall have to sail.  I have been reading about the tornadoes.  I picked up a book at Cowes the day we sailed, when I saw that you were ordering the charts of these seas, and have learnt what is the proper thing to do.  The wind is from the southeast at present, which means that the centre of the hurricane lies to the southwest.

“If the wind comes more from the east, as long as we can sail we are to head northwest or else lie to on the port tack.  If it shifts more to the south, we are to lie to on the starboard tack.”

“That sounds all right, Hawkins.  It is very easy to describe what ought to be done, but it is not so easy to do it, when you are in a gale that is almost strong enough to take her mast out of her.  I will tell you what I would do.  I would break up a couple of those casks, and nail the staves over the skylights, and then nail tarpaulins over them.  I have no fear whatever about her weathering the gale, but I expect that for a bit we shall be more under water than above it.

“I see Perry is getting the two anchors below; that will help to ease her.  At any rate she will be in good fighting trim.  I think we began none too soon.  There is a thick mist over the sky, and it looks as dark as pitch ahead.”