THE MISSISQUOI IN PURSUIT.
Of course Dory Dornwood had no suspicion of what had transpired on shore since he departed in the Goldwing. The hunger of the other members of the club reminded him that he might make a long passage to Burlington, or that he might be compelled to lie at anchor for a whole day before it was safe to cross the lake in the present state of the weather. He might be hungry himself as well as his companions, and he had not thought to lay in a stock of provisions for the voyage.
For this reason he was all the more willing to land at Plattsburgh. He hoisted the reefed mainsail again, and directed a couple of the party to get up the anchor. The Goldwing darted off at a furious rate, as she had before, when the fresh breeze filled her sails. She took the wind on her quarter at first; but Dory soon braced her up as she rounded the southerly beacon at the end of the breakwater, and headed the boat for the main shore.
"How does she work now, Dory?" asked Thad when the boat was on her course. "Does she carry a lee helm?"
"Not at all. It takes all my strength to keep her from luffing up," replied the skipper.
"There's another new word," added Corny Minkfield. "What in the world does 'luffing up' mean?"
"'To luff' is to come into the wind. I mean by that, to turn the head of the boat in the direction from which the wind comes," replied Dory. "But what she does under her present sail don't settle the question. I took the bonnet off the jib before I left the wharf this morning."
"The bonnet!" shouted Corny. "Does the boat wear a bonnet?"
"Of course she does. You never made the mistake of putting a boat in the masculine gender. You always say 'she' in speaking of a boat; and of course she wears a bonnet when she goes out."
"But when the weather is bad you take the bonnet off; and that is not the way the ladies do," suggested Thad.