"Make one."
"How? It will be impossible."
"We could not make a yacht of the usual shape, and if we could, it would not suit our purposes. What I propose is that we should build a double yacht. Just listen while I explain, and don't interrupt. We will make two long pontoons, pointed at both ends, and connect the two by cross-pieces, on which we can lay a deck and build a small, low cabin. Such a boat would not draw more than a foot of water, and to make her sail to windward we should have a drop keel or centre board, which we could let down or draw up according to the depth of the water. Then I think a lug sail and mizen would suit her best. We will build her ourselves. And inch deal is cheap enough, so it cannot cost so much. I have saved my pocket-money to buy a lot of books, but I can do without them for a time"——
"I have a couple of sovereigns," eagerly interrupted Jimmy.
"That is right; then we can do it swimmingly. We will build her in old Bell's yard, and he will lend us what tools we have not got."
Jimmy warmly welcomed the idea, and, getting out some paper and pencils, they began to draw plans and estimates of cost with great enthusiasm.
"And now," said Frank, "we will go and see Bell and ask him what he thinks of it."
Bell was a very eccentric old man, who lived on the shores of a small and winding creek, which ran up from the Broad. By trade he was a tailor, but he united to this the very different occupation of a boat-builder, and filled up his spare time with fishing and shooting wildfowl. He was a close observer of the habits of beasts, birds, and fishes, and was a great favourite with the boys, whose visits he liked and encouraged.
Stepping into the boat that lay moored in the boat-house, the two boys rowed across a bend of the Broad and up the creek to his cottage. The old man was at work in his yard, repairing the bottom of a boat, while his old wife might be seen at the window of the house putting the finishing-touches to the Sunday coat of some village beau.
"Good morning, Bell; it is a fine day."