“And why is that rope you are holding called a ‘sheet’?” wondered Trixie.
“Because it is fastened to a corner of a sail,” replied Fred. “Sheet came from the old word meaning something that stuck out, or shot out. Shoot and shot are related words, you know. And as corners stick out a corner of the sail was first called a sheet-line and then the name was applied to the line itself leading from the corner.”
“Well! Where did you find all that out?” said his sister, surprised.
“In the encyclopedia; you see, I too thought the name a queer one so I looked it up.”
“Maybe sheets for a bed were called that because they had corners,” ventured Paul.
“Yes, the book thinks so,” returned Fred. “And the big anchor that was depended upon for safety was called a ‘sheet-anchor’—not because it had corners but because it was shot out into the water. The whole word means a mixup of things but all we need remember is that the sheet here is the line and not the sail.”
“I brought my camera to take a picture of the wreck,” said Paul, as they saw the vessel.
“Wait until I get on her and then take me too, will you, Paul?” asked Billy, eagerly.
“Of course he will, Billy, and we will name it ‘The Two Wrecks,’” laughed Dudley.
When the mariners were once more sailing the seas, Paul remarked, “I wonder if Trix knows the sun is shining!”