"It don't come in at all if the boat is properly handled," replied Dory. "It would not be prudent to let her fall off a great deal."
"What would happen if she did fall off too much?" asked Con.
"Nothing at all, unless she were brought round far enough to place her keel in line with the direction of the wind. Then, with the sails trimmed as they are now, the boom would be likely to be carried over to the opposite tack. It would fill on the other tack with a shock, which might upset her. But even a blockhead would not let her do that."
"Suppose she did upset?" queried Ben Sinker.
"If she went over just here, she would go to the bottom in nearly four hundred feet of water. But she will not be allowed to play you such a trick as that. You might just as well drive your horse over a precipice as let the boat upset," said Dory confidently.
"The boat is now down to her washboard; and it would not take much of a flaw to put the board under, and fill the standing-room with water," added Archie.
"There comes a flaw; you can see it on the surface of the lake," replied the skipper. "Now see what Ash does."
The gust of wind struck the sails; the boat heeled over till the water came up to the top of the washboard; but, as Ash pulled the wheel towards him, the head of the boat went to windward, and the pressure was eased off. Dory asked the helmsman to put the helm a little farther down. Then the sails all began to shake, and the sloop instantly came up to an even keel.
"It looks easy enough," said Archie.
"It is easy enough, if you only mind what you are about. It takes some strength at the wheel to keep her from doing that, as she carries a weather-helm; so that you can't upset her in the way I explained, unless you mean to do so," continued Dory.