Jules Verne by Dick Sand - a Captain at Fifteen Page A

mariner's compass. It is not difficult, and, with a little
attention, you will soon learn to keep the ship's head in the right
direction."
    "Whenever you like, Mr. Dick," replied the old black.
    "Well," replied the novice, "stay near me at the helm till the end of
the day, and if fatigue overcomes me, you will then be able to replace
me for a few hours."
    "And I," said little Jack, "will I not be able to help my friend, Dick,
a little?"
    "Yes, dear child," replied Mrs. Weldon, clasping Jack in her arms, "you
shall learn to steer, and I am sure that while you are at the helm we
shall have good winds."
    "Very sure—very sure. Mother, I promise it to you," replied the little
boy, clapping his hands.
    "Yes," said the young novice, smiling, "good cabin-boys know how to
maintain good winds. That is well known by old sailors." Then,
addressing Tom, and the other blacks: "My friends," he said to them,
"we are going to put the 'Pilgrim' under full sail. You will only have
to do what I shall tell you."
    "At your orders," replied Tom, "at your orders, Captain Sand."
*

Chapter X - The Four Days Which Follow
*
    Dick Sand was then captain of the "Pilgrim," and, without losing an
instant, he took the necessary measures for putting the ship under full
sail.
    It was well understood that the passengers could have only one
hope—that of reaching some part of the American coast, if not
Valparaiso. What Dick Sand counted on doing was to ascertain the
direction and speed of the "Pilgrim," so as to get an average. For
that, it was sufficient to make each day on the chart the way made, as
it has been said, by the log and the compass. There was then on board
one of those "patent logs," with an index and helix, which give the
speed very exactly for a fixed time. This useful instrument, very
easily handled, could render the most useful services, and the blacks
were perfectly adapted to work it.
    A single cause of error would interfere—the currents. To combat it,
reckoning would be insufficient; astronomical observations alone would
enable one to render an exact calculation from it. Now, those
observations the young novice was still unable to make.
    For an instant Dick Sand had thought of bringing the "Pilgrim" back to
New Zealand. The passage would be shorter, and he would certainly have
done it if the wind, which, till then, had been contrary, had not
become favorable. Better worth while then to steer for America.
    In fact, the wind had changed almost to the contrary direction, and now
it blew from the northwest with a tendency to freshen. It was then
necessary to profit by it and make all the headway possible.
    So Dick Sand prepared to put the "Pilgrim" under full sail.
    In a schooner brig-rigged, the foremast carries four square sails; the
foresail, on the lower mast; above, the top-sail, on the topmast;
then, on the top-gallant mast, a top-sail and a royal.
    The mainmast, on the contrary, has fewer sails. It only carries a
brigantine below, and a fore-staffsail above. Between these two masts,
on the stays which support them at the prow, a triple row of triangular
sails may be set.
    Finally, at the prow, on the bowsprit, and its extreme end, were hauled
the three jibs.
    The jibs, the brigantine, the fore-staff, and the stay-sails are easily
managed. They can be hoisted from the deck without the necessity of
climbing the masts, because they are not fastened on the yards by means
of rope-bands, which must be previously loosened.
    On the contrary, the working of the foremast sails demands much greater
proficiency in seamanship. In fact, when it is necessary to set them,
the sailors must climb by the rigging—it may be in the foretop, it
may be on the spars of the top-gallant mast, it may be to the top of
the said mast—and that, as well in letting them fly as in drawing them
in to diminish their surface in reefing them. Thence the necessity of
running out on foot-ropes—movable ropes stretched below the yards—of
working with one hand while