262 



RECREATION. 



inch of canvas was soon set, and we 

 dashed along into the fog, which the 

 wind seemed to have no power 

 to clear away. At breakast time 

 it was blowing so fresh that the stay- 

 sail and topsail came in and the yacht 

 was headed off shore again, as we 

 did not care to come up with the land 

 in such a fog, especially as it was a 

 Ice shore. Puff after puff came heav- 

 ier and heavier, as the day wore on, 

 and before eleven o'clock, the fore 

 staysail was furled. The sea began 

 to look angry and black, with its 

 nuge, white-crested waves, large 

 enough to swallow us. They sent 

 deluge after deluge of spray over our 

 weather bow, and the little vessel be- 

 gan to strain and labor again and the 

 order came: 



" Stand by to reef mainsail!" 



The boat was sent up in the wind, 

 the halyards eased, two reefs tied 

 down, and for a time the schooner was 

 much relieved by the reduction of 

 canvas. The wind was fast rising 

 again, and the ocean was so angry, 

 that even this little spread was more 

 than we could stagger under. About 

 the middle of the afternoon we took 

 in the foresail entirely, and sailed un- 

 der double-reefed mainsail and Num- 

 ber 2 jib. This lasted until night 

 shut down, when the order was given 

 to reef the foresail, that we might lay 

 to under it, in case of need. During 

 all the next day, the fog rolled by in 

 heavy masses, and never once did 

 we have a horizon of half a mile. 

 Night came on black and dismal, and 

 as we clustered in the cockpit and 

 watched the compass by the dim 

 light of the binnacle, we were startled 

 by a voice from below: 



"The water's coming up on the 

 cabin floor! She's leaking!" 



Before we went below to investi- 

 gate, we took in the remnant of the 

 mainsail and jib, set the reefed fore- 

 sail, brought her to the wind and laid 

 her to. Then came the investigation 

 of the water on the floor; but we had 

 not gone far when we discovered that 

 it was fresh, and, consequently, could 

 not have come through the hull. 

 This was a great relief in itself, and 



we breathed easily once more. We 

 soon found a small leak in the pipe 

 leading to one of the tanks of drink- 

 ing water, which was the cause of all 

 the trouble. 



All through the dreary night, the 

 yacht lay like a duck, with her head 

 to the wind, riding the seas beauti- 

 fully, but entirely motionless, her 

 drift excepted. Once in a while a 

 huge sea would roll over us, but, for 

 the most part, we were dry and com- 

 fortable, and this in a sea that would 

 have swamped many a boat of twice 

 her size. The morning dawned with 

 the fog banks still enveloping us, and 

 the foam-capped waves on all sides, 

 as far as the narrow limit of our vis- 

 ion would allow us to perceive. 



By io o'clock the wind had abated 

 somewhat, and although still fresh, 

 we put her on her course under dou- 

 ble-reefed mainsail and Number 2 jib. 

 The fog was still dense and we kept 

 the horn tooting. Suddenly, look- 

 ing outto leeward, we found we could 

 see a greater distance than formerly. 

 About a quarter of a mile away was 

 a large working schooner, plunging 

 through the sea at great speed, but 

 the queerest part of it was, that up 

 to about, the middle of her mainsail, 

 there was no fogwhatever, and every 

 rope and spar was clear and distinct; 

 while her topmasts and the upper 

 half of her lower sails were totally 

 hidden by it. She appeared to be 

 sailing with her topmasts in the 

 clouds. 



A few minutes later we emerged 

 from the fog and found ourselves 

 right under Halibut Point, and just 

 north of Cape Ann. In a short time 

 we found a good harbor, off a little 

 town (a suburb of Gloucester), and 

 anchored for the night. We spent 

 the next few hours in sleeping. 



We lay in port the next day, and on 

 a Sunday morning we again weighed 

 anchor, rounded Cape Ann, passed 

 Thacher's Island, and were once more 

 on our way home. The wind was 

 fresh and the sea comparatively 

 smooth, so we made good progress; 

 but as the hours flew by, the wind in- 

 creased constantly, and although it 



