"Can you see under the squall?"
"No, it's black now, clear round the horizon."
"Wind seems to me to be increasing," commented Jack, feeling its strength with his face.
"It's just like the start of that blow we had in the Moonbeam off Rarotonga," called Loyola.
"That's bad!" commented the former. "I think, Bill, you'd better rig up a sea-anchor for us to ride to. What do you say, Lolie?"
The woman flushed with pleasure at Jack asking her opinion, and her eyes, shining with suppressed excitement, aroused in her by this struggle with the elements, beamed fearlessly into the heart of the storm.
"It's going to blow very hard, I'm sure of it," she answered; "but you know best, Jack."
Thereupon they wasted no time in acting on the rover's idea. Three oars were lashed together triangle-wise with a tarpaulin spread between them. This was weighted by the small boat-kedge. Then, with their strongest line attached, this contrivance was lifted over the bows and the line paid out as the boat drifted down to leeward. This had the effect of holding the boat's head up to windward, and caused her to ride easier.
There was nothing more to be done but sit still and hope that the gallant craft would succeed in weathering out the storm.
Leaving the post that she had held so well, Loyola seated herself beside Jack in the bottom of the boat, where they were protected in some degree from the howling wind.