CHAPTER XVII
A Ship in Distress
THE day succeeding that on which Mr. Sharp found the nail in the field coil was another of those cold, stormy days so typical of the fall. The heavens were gray with threatening clouds. Fitfully the wind moaned and sobbed, and there was a rawness in the atmosphere that penetrated even the warmest of woolen clothing. Everything portended the approach of a storm.
The weather itself was enough to make one gloomy. But Henry, already worried sadly by the misfortune that had befallen him, was almost sick with apprehension. If only he could have done something toward unraveling the mystery that surrounded him, time would have passed more quickly and not so dismally. But there seemed to be nothing he could do except wait.
The day’s newspapers, brought aboard with the mail, told of gales raging farther along the coast, and of storm warnings posted along the entire Atlantic. Evidently another gale was sweeping the ocean. Terrible as had been the storm Henry had so recently witnessed, he felt that he would almost rejoice at an opportunity to228
