Bolly, Steve Baxter, and Phil Gawner were helped into the Goldwing. All three of them were thoroughly frightened, but were not otherwise damaged.
“Who was the skipper of this boat?” asked Dory.
“Bolly; and he said he knew how to sail a boat, or we should not have come out with him,” replied Phil.
“Can you skipper a boat, Bolly?” said Dory, turning to Bolly.
“I thought I could,” answered Bolly sheepishly.
“You thought so last Friday, when you let that steam-launch run into you.”
“But since that I have watched you, and I was sure I could do it,” pleaded Bolly.
“I don’t think you know any more about it now
than you did then. I told Oscar you would upset the boat when I first saw her come out of the river. I don’t believe you will ever be hanged. If you are going to keep doing this thing, you had better learn to swim,” added the skipper of the Goldwing.
“I won’t try it again: there is something about sailing a boat that I don’t understand,” replied Bolly.