morning, noon
It was in mid-ocean that Neeland finally came to the conclusion that nobody on board the _ Volhynia _ was likely to bother him or his box . The July weather had been magnificent -- blue skies , a gentle wind , and a sea scarcely silvered by a comber . Assorted denizens of the Atlantic took part in the traditional vaudeville performance for the benefit of the _ Volhynia _ passengers ; gulls followed the wake to mid-ocean ; Mother Carey 's chickens skimmed the baby billows ; dolphins turned watery flip-flaps under the bows ; and even a distant whale consented to oblige . Everybody pervaded the decks morning , noon , and evening ; the most squeamish recovered confidence in twenty-four hours ; and every constitutional lubber concluded he was a born sailor . Neeland really was one ; no nausea born from the bad adjustment of that anatomical auricular gyroscope recently discovered in man ever disturbed his abdominal nerves . Short of shipwreck , he enjoyed any entertainment the Atlantic offered him . So he was always on deck , tranquilly happy and with nothing in the world to disturb him except his responsibility for the olive-wood box .