"What do you mean by being in commission, Dory? Have you any commission?" asked Lily.
"That's what my uncle calls it when we have the regular ship's company on board. A ship in the navy, or a yacht, is said to be in commission when she has her officers and men on board, and is in condition for going to sea, or doing what is required of her."
"You don't go to sea; but you go to lake, just the same now as when you have thirty or forty on duty," laughed Lily.
"But Captain Gildrock don't call us in commission when we use the steamer with our present crew: that's all the difference there is. Three persons can handle the Sylph very well; and four is enough to work her comfortably, though not when there are any meals to be served."
Just then, as the steamer was standing across the little lake towards the outlet, Paul Bristol appeared at the door of the pilot-house, with the order of the principal to run to the point where the picnic was, and make a landing at the wharf.
"To the point where the picnic is, and make a landing at the wharf," repeated Captain Dornwood; and Paul touched his hat and retired, possibly thinking that his company was not wanted there.
"Didn't you hear him? What makes you say it over after him?" asked Lily, as her brother was leaving.
"My uncle requires us to repeat all orders, so as to be sure that they are understood, as they do in the navy, where he served several years when he was a young man. We do every thing in navy fashion when we are in commission, and we keep up some of the forms even now," replied the captain.
"What are we going to the picnic for, I wonder," added Lily.
"I haven't the least idea. I have learned to conquer my curiosity, or at least not to let it get the better of me," laughed Dory.