"I guess we are in for it, now!" cried Dave, that afternoon. "It is much rougher than it has yet been."
"I know I am in for it," answered Roger. His face was white, and wore a troubled look.
"I--I fancy so. My head spins like a top and my stomach is starting to do the same."
"Better go below, lad," said Captain Marshall, coming up. "It won't do you any good to remain on deck."
Roger shuffled off to the companionway, and Dave went after him. The senator's son was growing worse every minute, and it was not long before Phil announced that he also felt sick. Both went to their staterooms, and Dave did what he could to relieve their distress.
"If the old tub would only stop for a minute--just one minute!" groaned Roger.
"That's what I say," responded Phil. "Oh, dear! I'd give a hundred dollars to be on shore again!"
"I think I'd make it a thousand," groaned the senator's son. "Why, Dave, don't you feel it at all?"
"Well, I feel a little strange," answered the country boy, but he did not add that it was because he had to stand by and assist his friends. He made them as comfortable as possible, and then rushed to the deck, to get some fresh air and to get the matter off his mind.
A storm was certainly brewing, and Dave wondered how soon it would strike the _Stormy Petrel_ and how long it would last. The black clouds were piling up in the sky and the wind came in unsteady puffs. Below, the clear, blue water had turned to a dark green.
The first mate was in charge of the deck and, so far, he had given no orders to shorten sail. Ever and anon a sail would crack in the wind and the bark would give a plunge in the sea. Dave walked forward to where Billy Dill stood by the rail, watching the sky anxiously.
"This looks stormy, doesn't it?" questioned the youth.
"Stormy? Great dogfish! I should allow as how it did, lad. We're in for a blow, an' a big one, too."
"Then isn't it about time to take in sail?"
At this question the old tar shrugged his shoulders.
"Reckon he wants to take the benefit o' all the breeze he can," he answered. "But it ain't the best thing to do--not to my way o' reasonin'. If he ain't keerful, we may lose a topmast, or more."
"I suppose you don't dare to say anything to him?"