After a little Phil evolved a new idea. Releasing the skiff, he rowed to the flatboat and directed Irv to go aboard. Then returning to his former position, he again made the skiff fast to the tree.
“Now, Irv,” he called out, “you and Ed go below and bring up two or three barrels of flour.”
“What for?” asked Ed.
“Never mind what for. Do it quick,” was the answer.
When the barrels of flour were on deck, Phil said:—
“Find the middle of the tarpaulin as nearly as you can, and roll a barrel of flour overboard into it.”
The thing was quickly done. The weight of the barrel of flour caused the tarpaulin to sink below the flatboat’s bottom, and it became possible to drag it under her for a further space.
“Roll another barrel overboard,” said the captain, when the tarpaulin refused to come farther. This enabled the boys to drag the sheet still farther, and finally, with the aid of a third barrel, they brought its edge ten feet beyond the gunwale.
“Now,” said Phil, “we’ve got to spill those flour barrels out of the cloth, or it won’t come up to the boat’s bottom and stop the leaks.”