"Have you ever been in a typhoon ?" Percy shook his head.
"Well," went on the other, "the most ominous thing is the calm.

The sea is like oil; you feel half-dead: you can do nothing.

Then comes the storm." Percy looked at him, interested.

He had not seen this mood in the priest before.
"Before every great crash there comes this calm.

It is always so in history.