It was the evening of the second day of the _Spindrift's_ cruise.

The wind, which had come fresh from the east in the morning, followed the sun round in its course, blowing gently from the south at mid-day, and breathing very faintly from the west in the evening.

After sunset it died away completely.

The whole surface of the bay lay calm, save here and there where some chance movement of the air ruffled a tiny patch of water; or where, at the corners of the islands and in very narrow channels, the inward drawing of the tide marked long, curved lines and illusive circles on the oily sea.

The _Spindrift_ was poised motionless on the surface of the water, borne slowly, almost imperceptibly, forward by the sweep of the tide.