“The boat isn’t leaking,” said Bob, thinking the sailor was about to begin bailing operations.
“I know it, you just watch me.”
Sam fastened a piece of rope to each of the two handles of the tub. These strands he tied together, and at the place of joining he attached another rope.
Seeing that all of the knots were secure he climbed out on the overhanging stern of the boat, and made the end of the long rope fast to a cleat. Then he dropped the tub overboard, and it fell with a splash into the water.
“He’s lost it!” cried Bob.
“Not a bit of it,” Sam said. “That’s what I wanted to do. That’s what we call a drag, sonny. It will keep the boat head on to the waves, and that’s the most important thing now.”
In the meanwhile the craft had been pitching and rolling about in rather an alarming fashion. The boys had all they could do to stand upright, but Sam crawled and walked about like the old salt that he was.
No sooner had the tub been dropped astern than an improvement was apparent. The rolling and pitching ceased, and, though it was still rough riding compared to being on a lake or river, the Dartaway stood up well, and was on a more even keel.
“That drag has something of the same effect as if we were moving by means of the engine,” explained Sam. “It keeps the stern in the right place. The wind on the awning gives us a little headway and I think we’ll do very well for a while. Lucky the whale didn’t take the tub with him.”
Now that they were temporarily in a little better shape, Jerry renewed his efforts to get the engine to work. It was anything but an easy task at best. Even in daylight and on still water he had often found his ingenuity taxed to the utmost to discover some slight defect and remedy it. Now, in a boat that had an uneven motion, and amid a darkness that the lights seemed to but increase, it was about as ticklish a proposition as the youth had ever undertaken.