Digital heart book

My first glance, which was at the compass,
and my second, which was at the log, were all that I
could wish. We lay our course; we had been doing over
eight since nine the night before, and I drew a heavy
breath of satisfaction. And then I know not what odd
and wintry appearance of the sea and sky knocked
suddenly at my heart. I observed the schooner to look
more than usually small, the men silent and studious of
the weather. Nares, in one of his rusty humours,
afforded me no shadow of a morning salutation. He,
too, seemed to observe the behaviour of the ship with
an intent and anxious scrutiny. What I liked still
less, Johnson himself was at the wheel, which he span
busily, often with a visible effort; and as the seas
ranged up behind us, black and imminent, he kept
casting behind him eyes of animal swiftness, and
drawing in his neck between his shoulders, like a man
dodging a blow. From these signs I gathered that all
was not exactly for the best; and I would have given a
good handful of dollars for a plain answer to the
questions which I dared not put.


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