About noon
In the meantime the wind did not appear to be abating in the slightest . All that wretched forenoon the majority of the girls , half-dead from fright and exposure , clung desperately to the cushions of the locker seats , wild-eyed and despairing . All that forenoon Harriet Burrell , Jane McCarthy , Tommy , Hazel and Miss Elting stuck to their posts and worked without once pausing to rest . About noon the wind suddenly died out , then began veering in puffs from various quarters of the compass . `` Now , Jane , is our chance , '' cried Harriet . `` The storm is broken , but the seas will be high all the rest of the day . If we can fix up some sort of a sail , we may be able to reach land before long . ''