Weeks had passed since the happenings told of in the previous chapter
took place, and nothing of any importance had occurred. Redfox had not
again ordered Willy to climb the mast with him, and even when the ship
was becalmed and lay with slackened sails on a sea smooth and clear as
a looking-glass, he would not allow him to go up to the crow's nest.

"Oh, no, no, if you were to get dizzy and fall, you'd tell that I
pushed you," he sneered at every possible opportunity. Green he
avoided as much as possible.

"The boy was perhaps mistaken, and my suspicions of the Captain and
Redfox may be wholly unfounded," thought honest Green, when week after
week went by without their taking revenge on either him or Willy. The
voyage had been an extraordinarily quick and fortunate one. The days
which ships usually spend in being becalmed under the Equator the 'St.
George' spent under full sail with favoring winds. Everything on
shipboard was going very well, yet the Captain was always sullen and
morose. He and Redfox sat in the cabin and gambled and drank most of
their time. Rarely did they finish one debauch before they began on
another. Redfox seemed to exercise hypnotic power over the Captain.

Willy, the darling of the crew, at first was much grieved over his
uncle's behavior and the aversion which the first officer showed for
him, but he soon became accustomed to their ways. The companionship of
Green, who initiated him into the mysteries of the compass and the
practical work of steering the ship, was pleasant, and he had Peppo.
The Captain had allowed the boatswain to put up another hammock in
Willy's cabin, so that Peppo could sleep there instead of going down
into the steerage. Together the boys said their morning and evening
prayers, just as they were accustomed to do in the pension in Hongkong,