"I would rather you would obey them in spirit; so if I make a blunder, and get knocked out, I want you to correct it," added Dory lightly.
"I don't know what you are going to do, and I can only obey orders to the letter," said Matt.
"I could not settle on any plan until I had seen how the barges lay; and it is too late to explain now. Ready about!"
Matt promptly obeyed the orders given him, and the schooner came entirely around. It would have been a shorter way to jibe her, but the skipper never ventured upon this manœuvre when the wind was at all fresh; for he was not one of those venturesome boatmen who think they are not smart unless they incur needless risks.
Dory saw that Matt was carrying out his orders to the letter, and it was clear that Nim Splugger, the acting coxswain of the Gildrock, was getting nervous as he saw the Goldwing dashing down upon his craft.
"What are you about? You will run over us!" yelled Nim, when he saw the schooner within twenty feet of him.
The oarsmen were inclined to desert their posts, and kept looking behind them at the Goldwing. But both barges had been in the trough of the sea, and those in charge of them had found by actual trial that the only way they could go was directly across the lake, against the wind. This was the reason why the barges were nearly over to the New York shore, and not because they were following a plan of their own.
"Keep to your oars, fellers!" shouted Nim Splugger, when he saw several of his crew cease rowing. "Never mind that boat! She won't run into us."
But Nim had his doubts on this point, for the Goldwing did not budge an inch from her course. Dory had looked over his lines, and was watching the course of the schooner and the position of the Gildrock. When the schooner was within ten feet of the barge, Nim gave a frantic yell, and all the rowers gave up in despair.
"Keep her away a little, Matt!" called Dory, who was now on his feet with a line in each hand.