weaker, covered over with a thin layer -of cloud. Before it disappeared for good John took a sight and came to the conclusion that they were in about latitude ' 19° 30' south, longitude 142° 35' west. The wind was now south of south-east blowing about" Force 5 or rather more. By noon the barometer was five millibars lower than the normal reading.
There was now no doubt of the position in his mind, and he braced himself for what was coming. The wind would continue veering to the south and would increase in strength, driving them to the north on to the Tuamotus. A hundred and forty miles ahead of them and a little to the south of west lay an isolated atoll called Hereheretue; there was no harbour there, no entrance to the lagoon, and no safe landing in this weather. Yet if he could reach it he might shelter behind it from the fury of the storm, using it as a breakwater; in any event a more southerly course would take him farther from the Tuamotus. He altered course to 245°, and his ship went racing along with a beam wind, making about six knots. At that rate they would reach the shelter of the atoll in about twenty-four hours, but from the first he doubted if they would make it.
They put on their waterproof storm clothing with bright orange lifejackets and waist lifelines that they could clip on to the rigging. They locked the forehatch down, and fitted the weatherboards over the glasses of the cabin skylight under the dinghy.
All day the wind increased and veered towards the south. They could take in one reef in the trysail with a lacing round the boom, and they took that in with difficulty towards evening. With the reduced canvas they made much more leeway, and now John Dermott gave up the attempt to reach Hereheretue. With the last of the light he backed the foresail a little and hove his vessel to on the port tack in the increasing wind; she lay fairly quietly, making about two knots to leeward in the direction of the Tuamotus. At any rate, he thought, they had made some useful offing.
They sat together in the cabin, dimly lit by the swaying oil lamp turned down low because it smoked with the motion, listening to the crash of the seas against the bow as the vessel rode the waves. Jo asked, 'Where do you think we are, John ?'
He showed her on the chart.
'It's a bad one, this, isn't it?' she asked.
He nodded.
' The worst we've ever had ?'
'It might be,' he admitted. Til tell you when it's over.'
'I suppose it's because we're late in getting here,' she said. She had known in theory that hurricanes were apt to happen in those waters from November onwards. Now that theoretical knowledge was being translated into fact.
'We're not so late as all that,' he said a little resentfully. 'This is an early one.'
She knew that he had first proposed that they should' leave England in June. 'We had to see Janice settled for the · summer holidays.'
He nodded. 'We couldn't have started any earlier.'
Presently they lay down on their berths to get what rest they could. From time to time Dermott got up and put his head out of the hatch; the wind seemed stronger every tune he looked, and the sea higher. Each time the ship's head pointed, on the wildly veering average, a little more towards the west and north.
At about three in the morning there was a great crack, the ship's motion changed, and a wild beating of heavy canvas was heard above them. They tumbled out on deck, and saw in the light of a flashlight through the flying scud that the jib had gone; only the bolt ropes remained with tattered streamers of canvas flying from them. Without the jib the ship had come up to the wind, and the heavy blocks of the trysail sheets were flailing the cockpit, threatening death to anybody in their way.
Without the jib he could not lie the vessel to in such a wind. He shouted to Jo to get a warp from the forecastle, and went forward carefully himself on deck, clipping his lifeline on to something fresh at every two or three steps. At the
There was now no doubt of the position in his mind, and he braced himself for what was coming. The wind would continue veering to the south and would increase in strength, driving them to the north on to the Tuamotus. A hundred and forty miles ahead of them and a little to the south of west lay an isolated atoll called Hereheretue; there was no harbour there, no entrance to the lagoon, and no safe landing in this weather. Yet if he could reach it he might shelter behind it from the fury of the storm, using it as a breakwater; in any event a more southerly course would take him farther from the Tuamotus. He altered course to 245°, and his ship went racing along with a beam wind, making about six knots. At that rate they would reach the shelter of the atoll in about twenty-four hours, but from the first he doubted if they would make it.
They put on their waterproof storm clothing with bright orange lifejackets and waist lifelines that they could clip on to the rigging. They locked the forehatch down, and fitted the weatherboards over the glasses of the cabin skylight under the dinghy.
All day the wind increased and veered towards the south. They could take in one reef in the trysail with a lacing round the boom, and they took that in with difficulty towards evening. With the reduced canvas they made much more leeway, and now John Dermott gave up the attempt to reach Hereheretue. With the last of the light he backed the foresail a little and hove his vessel to on the port tack in the increasing wind; she lay fairly quietly, making about two knots to leeward in the direction of the Tuamotus. At any rate, he thought, they had made some useful offing.
They sat together in the cabin, dimly lit by the swaying oil lamp turned down low because it smoked with the motion, listening to the crash of the seas against the bow as the vessel rode the waves. Jo asked, 'Where do you think we are, John ?'
He showed her on the chart.
'It's a bad one, this, isn't it?' she asked.
He nodded.
' The worst we've ever had ?'
'It might be,' he admitted. Til tell you when it's over.'
'I suppose it's because we're late in getting here,' she said. She had known in theory that hurricanes were apt to happen in those waters from November onwards. Now that theoretical knowledge was being translated into fact.
'We're not so late as all that,' he said a little resentfully. 'This is an early one.'
She knew that he had first proposed that they should' leave England in June. 'We had to see Janice settled for the · summer holidays.'
He nodded. 'We couldn't have started any earlier.'
Presently they lay down on their berths to get what rest they could. From time to time Dermott got up and put his head out of the hatch; the wind seemed stronger every tune he looked, and the sea higher. Each time the ship's head pointed, on the wildly veering average, a little more towards the west and north.
At about three in the morning there was a great crack, the ship's motion changed, and a wild beating of heavy canvas was heard above them. They tumbled out on deck, and saw in the light of a flashlight through the flying scud that the jib had gone; only the bolt ropes remained with tattered streamers of canvas flying from them. Without the jib the ship had come up to the wind, and the heavy blocks of the trysail sheets were flailing the cockpit, threatening death to anybody in their way.
Without the jib he could not lie the vessel to in such a wind. He shouted to Jo to get a warp from the forecastle, and went forward carefully himself on deck, clipping his lifeline on to something fresh at every two or three steps. At the
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