"I am ready to do just as you say," replied the spare hand.
"You don't mean to leave me, do you?" demanded Bissell, aghast at the proposition. "I don't want you to go."
"I thought you might prefer to handle your own boat," suggested Dory.
"I guess I'd rather have you take her over to Westport, if you will," replied the skipper, anxiously.
"Even if we remain on board of the sloop, you had better take the helm," added Dory, who had some curiosity to see how Bissell worked the boat.
"I'd rather have you steer her. I don't know but you can manage her better than I can."
"You ought to be able to handle your own boat better than any one else can. You have sailed her more than any other person, and a boat is something like a horse, and does better in the hands of one who is used to her."
"I bought the Silver Moon last year, and got a man to show me how to manage her. I was out in her every day last summer, but I never went out when it blew very hard. Folks say it is dangerous sailing on Lake Champlain, there are so many currents and flaws from the hills."
"There is no doubt about the flaws and currents, but I look upon them as bugbears. A skipper must keep his craft in hand all the time, and then he is ready for flaws and squalls."