Frank blinked lazily. He was very nearly asleep.
“You’re a nice pair,” said Priscilla. “What on earth is the point of dropping off like that in the middle of the day? Ghastly laziness I call it.”
Another puff of wind and then another came from the west. The Tortoise began to move through the water. Frank woke up and paid serious attention to his steering. Priscilla looked round the sea and then the sky. The thunder storm was breaking over Rosnacree, five miles to the east, and a heavy bank of dark clouds was piled up across the sky.
“It looks uncommonly queer,” said Priscilla, “rather magnificent in some ways, but I wish I knew exactly what it’s going to do. I don’t understand this breeze coming in from the west. It’s freshening too.”
A long deep growl reached them from the east.
“Must be,” said Priscilla. “The clouds are coming up against the wind. Only thunder does that--and liberty. At least Wordsworth says liberty does. I never saw it myself. I told you we were doing ‘The Excursion’ last term. It’s in that somewhere. I say, this breeze is freshening. Keep her just as she’s going, Cousin Frank. We’ll be able to let her go in a minute. Oh, do look at the water!”
The sea had turned a deep purple colour. In spite of the ripples which the westerly breeze raised on its surface it had a curious look of sulky menace.
“Miss Rutherford,” said Priscilla, “wake up, we’re going to have a thunder storm.”
“A storm!” she said. “How splendid! Any chance of being wrecked?”
“Not at present,” said Priscilla, “but you never know what may happen. If you feel at all nervous I’ll steer myself.”
“Nervous!” said Miss Rutherford. “I’m delighted. There’s nothing I should like more than to be wrecked on a desert island with you two. It would just complete the most glorious series of adventures I’ve ever had. Do try and get wrecked.”
“Hadn’t we better go in to Inishbawn and wait till it’s over?” said Frank.
“Nonsense,” said Priscilla. “Wetting won’t hurt us, and anyway we’ll be at Inishminna in half an hour with this breeze.”
The Tortoise was racing through the dark water. She was listed over so that her lee gunwale seemed likely to dip under. Miss Rutherford, in spite of her wish for shipwreck, scrambled up to windward. They reached the point of Ardilaun and fled, bending and staggering, down the narrow passage between it and Inishlean. Priscilla took the mainsheet in her hand and ordered Frank to luff a little. There was another period of rushing, heavily listed, with the wind fair abeam. Now and then, as a squall struck the sails, Priscilla let the mainsheet run out and allowed the Tortoise to right herself. The sea was flecked with the white tops of short, steep waves, raised hurriedly, as it were irritably by the wind. A few heavy drops of rain fell. The whole sky became very dark. A bright zig-zag of light flashed down, the thunder crashed over head. The rain came down like a solid sheet of water.