"On this side? Who ever heard of rowing in that way?" blustered Bissell. "Both oars on the same side!"
"We have no time to argue the question now, if you want to keep your boat on the top of the water instead of the bottom," said Dory sharply.
Bissell did as he was told, though he had no faith in rowing with two oars on one side of the boat. The united strength of the two was immediately seen in the motion of the boat. Her bow was soon thrown up to the wind, and then the boom swung in over the standing room. This was the acting skipper's object, and as soon as he could reach the main sheet, he dropped his oar. Grasping the rope, he carried it aft, and got a turn with it over the cleat above the rudder head.
The sail filled as soon as he hauled in the sheet, and Dory got hold of the tiller. The sloop heeled over till Bissell declared that the new skipper would upset her. Paul continued to bale with all his might. Dory trimmed the sail down as flat as he could, and soon had perfect control of the craft, heavy as her movements were in her water-logged condition. He was obliged to touch her up in the fierce blasts which struck her, but he had her well balanced, and she did not realize any of the evil predictions of her incompetent skipper. On the other hand, she did not dip up any more water over her gunwale, and all that came into her was in the form of spray.
At Dory's suggestion, Bissell got out a firkin in which the lunch for the party had been brought on board, and assisted Paul in the work of baling. But there were hogsheads of water in her, and the process of relieving her was very slow. The three barges were still laying on their oars, watching the movements of the Silver Moon. Dory ran for Button Island, which was separated from the main land only by a narrow channel. Slacking off the sheet, he ran her aground in the sand behind the point, where the water was as smooth as the lake in a calm.
"She is aground!" exclaimed Bissell, as the keel grated on the bottom.
"I know it; and that is where I intended to have her," replied Dory, as he left the tiller.
Bissell began to protest that he would not have the boat aground; but the new skipper paid no attention to him. Taking the bucket from Paul, he told him to rest. Dory worked hard at baling for half an hour, and Bissell did his part as soon as he found that his protest was not heeded. By this time the water had dropped so it had to be dipped out of the well. It was all out at last, and the well sponged dry. To the stupid astonishment of Bissell, the Silver Moon was again afloat.