I'd hate to buck up against 'em myself." The other
officers agreed with the general in this remark, and Archie began to
feel that, after all, he might not have such a hard time finding
interesting things to write about as he had expected.
The transport remained in port but one day, and in thirty hours after
her arrival Archie found himself sailing again over the blue Pacific.
The weather, for a few days, was almost perfect. A cloudless sky
overhead, a warm breeze from the west, and a smooth sea made things
very pleasant aboard ship, and Archie began to realise that there are
times when it is delightful to be at sea. The vessel was very much
overcrowded with troops, and the sleeping quarters were but little
more pleasant than aboard the liner. Archie shared a stateroom with
three sergeants, and they managed to have a lively time during the
voyage. They played games, told stories, and slept in the afternoons,
but all this, of course, grew rather tiresome after a time, and the
voyage was becoming monotonous, when there came a severe storm which
kept things moving for three days.
None of the navigating officers had expected a gale, so that when it
came every one was taken wholly by surprise, and it came so suddenly
that there was no time at all for preparation. The sky became quickly
dark one afternoon about three o'clock, and soon the whole horizon was
a mass of great black clouds, which every moment seemed to come lower
and lower until they directly overhung the ship.
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