Page 309 - A Knight of the White Cross

was breaking when he opened his eyes. He sprang to his feet, and saw the
land stretching ahead of him at a distance, as he thought, of some fifteen

miles, and at once put the helm down and bore more to the north.

He judged, from what he had heard on the coast, that he must be nearly off
Cape Tejones, behind which lies the town of Bengasi, and was confirmed
in the belief on finding half an hour later that the coast, which had run

nearly north and south, trended sharply away to the northeast. All day long
he kept about the same distance from the land, and at night, instead of

keeping on his course, brailed up the sail entirely, and allowed the vessel to
drift, as he knew that before morning he should lose the coast if he
continued as he was going. He slept without moving until daylight, and

then saw, to his satisfaction, by means of landmarks he had noticed the
evening before, that the boat had drifted but a few miles during the night.

As the day went on, he saw that the coastline was now east and west, and
felt that he must be off the most northerly point of the promontory; he
accordingly laid his course to the northeast, which would take him close to

Cape Saloman, the most easterly point of Crete, and from two hundred and
fifty to three hundred miles distant.

For twenty-four hours he sailed quietly on, the wind dropping lighter and
lighter; then it suddenly died out altogether; for some hours there was not a

breath to stir the surface of the water, and the heat was stifling. Gervaise
slept for some time; when he awoke the same stillness reigned, but there

was a change in the appearance of the sky; its brightness was dulled by a
faint mist, while, although the sea was of a glassy smoothness, there was an
imperceptible swell that caused the felucca to sway uneasily. Gervaise had

sufficient experience of the Levant to know that these signs were ominous
of a change, and he at once set to work to prepare for it. Although he saw

that it would be difficult for him unaided to hoist the long spar back into its
place, he decided to lower it. This was not difficult, as its weight brought it
down on to the deck as soon as he slackened the halliards; he unhooked it

from the block, and then lashed the sail securely to it. When he had done
this he looked round. A bank of dark clouds lay across the horizon to the

northwest, and in a short time he could see that this was rising rapidly.