“There are two parts to this test: the first is a general test for everyone who aspires to proficiency in water sports, and the second part gives you a choice—in showing your ability to manage a row-boat, a sail-boat, a canoe, or a motorboat. We shall of course all select the canoe.”
“I’ve been looking at some of the questions,” said Marjorie; “but I can’t answer them. For instance, about the right of way, and the port and the starboard of boats, and——”
“Oh, that part is easy,” said Miss Phillips; “I can tell you things like that. It’s practical demonstrations that I’m afraid of. With the exception of Alice, you can all swim twenty-five yards with your clothing on——”
“Does that mean that I’m out of it?” cried the girl, in disappointment. “Why, I can paddle as well as the rest of the girls!”
“You may qualify for everything else except the swimming, and then do that on Silver Lake,” said the captain. “Now, to continue—of course everybody knows the sixteen points of the compass and how to find the four directions from the sun or stars.”
“I don’t!” remarked Alice.
“Oh, Alice, of course you do!” Miss Phillips’s voice sounded a trifle provoked. “Where does the sun rise, and how do you find the North star?”
“Well, I guess I do know,” admitted the girl, meekly. “I spoke before I thought.”
“Bad habit that,” remarked Ruth.
“Now see whether you can answer these questions. If you were on a river at night, what color lights would you carry, and on which side?”