"Certainly!" replied Mr. Pertell. "There is no danger."
"No danger!" cried Pepper Sneed. "What! In that small boat? Look at the waves!" and he pointed over the side. There was only a gentle swell on.
"It's as calm as a mill pond," spoke one of the sailors.
"Mill pond! Don't say mill pond to me!" cried the grouchy actor. "I fell in one once."
"Well, you won't fall now," declared the manager. "Get in the boat. I want to show it being lowered over the side with you in it."
"Well, if I have to—I'll have to, I suppose," groaned Mr. Sneed. "But I know something will happen."
But matters seemed going smoothly enough. The sailors were carefully lowering the small craft, and it was nearly at the surface of the water. Russ, up in the bow of the yacht, where he could get a good view, was making the pictures.
Suddenly, when the boat was a few feet from the ripples on the bay, one of the ropes slipped quickly through the davit block. One end of the boat went down quite fast and Pepper Sneed was heard to yell:
"Here I go! I knew something would happen! Help! I'm going to sink! Help! Oh, why did I ever get into this business!"
But with great presence of mind the other sailors lowered away on their rope, so that the other end of the boat went down also, and in another instant it was riding on an even keel. Nothing had happened except that Pepper Sneed had been badly scared.