“For heaven’s sake, Jane, I wish you would look at Breck! What on earth can he be doing?” Frances pointed to where Breck was leaning over the hand-rail earnestly spitting, with Mr. Wing eagerly watching.
“Mr. Wing,” called Jane, “is there anything I can do for Breck? Lemon is awfully good for seasickness, Aunt Min says.”
Mr. Wing’s fat face turned purple with the effort not to laugh and Breck finally chuckled.
“Ridiculous, Jane,” said the “Boojum’s” owner, “that is the sailor’s best method of telling whether a ship has lost her way or not. You see, you don’t want to drop anchor while the ship is still moving, and if you spit over the side you can tell easily how fast you are going.”
“Well, no wonder I didn’t understand! Who would?” demanded Jane.
“It was a perfectly natural mistake, Miss Pellew,” said Breck.
“Jane, as a Camp Fire Girl, you should thoroughly approve of the infinite resources of nature,” teased Frances.
“I do think it is an awfully good idea, but, didn’t it look funny?” agreed Jane.
“Breck, you better let out a little more chain,” ordered Mr. Wing. “And Jane, I’m going to show you and Frances how to let down the dinghy from the davits, so you girls can be independent of Charlie and Jack. There is not much chance of getting those two to do anything for any girls except Mabel and Ellen and there might be a time when you would want to take the boat when Breck and I were ashore.”