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? ? ? ? With the foremast in, the work now went on apace. Almost before I knew it, and without one serious hitch, I had the mainmast stepped. A derrick-boom rigged to the foremast had accomplished this; and several days more found all stays and shrouds in place and everything set up taut. Topsails would be a nuisance and a danger for a crew of two, so I heaved the topmasts on deck and lashed them fast.

? ? ? ? Several more days were consumed in finishing the sails and putting them on. There were only three- the jib, foresail, and mainsail; and, patched, shortened, and distorted, they were a ridiculously ill-fitting suit for so trim a craft as the Ghost.

? ? ? ? 'But they'll work,' Maud cried jubilantly. 'We'll make them work, and trust our lives to them!'

? ? ? ? Certainly, among my many new trades, I shone least as a sailmaker. I could sail them better than make them, and I had no doubt of my power to bring the schooner to some northern port of Japan. In fact, I had crammed navigation from textbooks aboard; and, besides, there was Wolf Larsen's star-scale, so simple a device that a child could work it.


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