A mast drifting with the current is usual.
When I see one drifting against it I will begin to worry."
The jumpy nerves of the sailors were easily upset. They might have been
calmer if the sea had been less calm. It is hard for Spanish blood to
endure inaction and suspense together. Day after day a soft strong wind
wafted them westward. Ruiz, one of the pilots, bluntly declared that he
did not see how they could ever sail back to Spain against this wind,
whether they reached the Indies or not.
"Pedro," said the Admiral quietly, "what do you think?"
Pedro hesitated only an instant. "My lord," he answered boldly, "if we
cannot go back we must go on--around the world."
"So we can," smiled the Admiral. "But it will not come to that." And
Ruiz, reassured and rather ashamed of his fears, told the other
grumblers if they had seen as much rough weather as he had they would
know when they were well off.
But after a time even the pilots took fright. The compass needle no
longer pointed to the North Star, but half a point or more to the
northwest of it. They had visions of the fleet helplessly drifting
without a guide upon a vast unknown sea. It was not then known that the
action of the magnetic pole upon the needle varies in different parts of
the earth, but the quick mind of the Admiral found an explanation which
quieted their fears.
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