"I will: on what tack are we sailing?" asked the skipper sharply.
"I shall have to give it up: I never could get the hang of these tacks," pleaded Con.
"I never could," added Hop.
"I think I can tell why you did not get the hang of the tacks," continued Thad. "It was because the meaning of the position was given to you in a lot of sea-slang, which you did not take in. I will tell you when a vessel is on the starboard tack: it is when the main-boom is out over the port-quarter, and the port jib-sheets are trimmed down. Now you know!"
"I am sure I don't," replied Archie.
"I am not a bit the wiser," added Con.
"My definition is not beyond your comprehension; but you are not used to thinking in that sort of lingo, though you could take in the meaning of it if you gave the time and thought to it. Ben said just now that we are getting the wind from the starboard-side. Do you all understand that?" asked Thad very forcibly.
"Of course we do," answered Archie.
"That's easy enough," chimed in several others.
"Then, if we have the wind on the port-side, we are on the port-tack," almost shouted the skipper.