noon
I took my angle again , and , rather to my surprise , found that we were slightly gaining upon the schooner , while the brig was fully holding her own with us , if indeed she was not doing something even better than that . I reported this to the skipper , who seemed to have made up his mind already as to his course of action ; for upon hearing what I had to say he instantly gave orders for our helm to be shifted in pursuit of the schooner . Then , seeming suddenly to remember that it was my watch below , he hailed me , telling me that I might come down . Having reached the deck , I at once trotted below to make my preparation for taking the sun 's meridian altitude , for it was now drawing on towards noon . When , a little later , I again went on deck , I found that the wind had continued to freshen , and was now blowing a really strong breeze , while the sea had wrinkled under the scourging of it to a most beautiful deep dark-blue tint , liberally dashed with snow-white patches of froth as the surges curled over and broke in their chase after our flying hull . Our canvas was now dragging at the spars and sheets like so many teams of cart-horses , the delicate blue shadows coming and going upon the cream - white surfaces as the ship rolled with the regularity of a swinging pendulum . Every inch of our running gear was as taut as a harp-string , and through it the wind piped and sang as though the whole ship had been one gigantic musical instrument ; while over all arched the blue dome of an absolutely cloudless sky , in the very zenith of which blazed the sun with a fierceness that made all of us eager to seek out such small patches of fugitive shadow as were cast by the straining canvas .