A Happy, Dripping Lot
“Do you think we’ll do, Captain?” asked Polly, when she reappeared.
“Do? Of course you’ll do. I’ll come over every morning on my way to the Point for a week and drill you until you can swim. Now you take Nancy and Tom out with you this afternoon. It’s calm and easy, with a light breeze blowing off shore. Better try going out in two of the boats for a few days with Nancy and Tom to show you how to handle them.”
Sue ran upstairs to the “lookout,” to see if their fleet was in sight.
“Sister Anne, Sister Anne, do you see anyone coming?” called Ted, merrily.
“Here’s Tom,” Sue cried. “Oh, I wonder how soon I can make a boat act like that.”
Tom came around the bay from Fair Havens beautifully. He was showing off his sailor craft freely, and the fifteen-footer was as tame to his touch as a horse to the rein. Polly watched him eagerly, as he brought it gracefully to the landing. The name on the prow was the Tidy Jane.
“That’s the best sail boat in the lot,” the Captain declared, as he left them. “Nancy named her after the first fishing boat I sailed on up to the Banks of Newfoundland. And she’s a good one. She’s shapely as a sloop-o’-war, and twice as slippery.”
“Then she ought to be the flag ship,” said Kate. “Why don’t you take her, Polly?”