"We showed some fellows how to do it when we were at Canvey," said Desmond. "The next time they tried it was high tide—a very high tide—and the motor-boat's tank instead of being filled was emptied of the little already there. Why? Because the tank was at a higher level than the barrel, and the paraffin was siphoned in exactly the opposite direction to which the crew wanted it to go— Look out, the tank's full!"
It had taken exactly ten minutes. The operation of filling up buckets and pouring the oil through a funnel usually occupied the best part of an hour; but when the "ration party" returned, hot and heavily laden, they found the "paraffin merchants" having a long spell of "stand easy".
"Lazy blighters!" exclaimed Rayburn. "You've been slacking. You'd better hurry up before Mr. Armitage gets back."
"We're not going to do another stroke until he returns," declared Woodleigh composedly. "We're going to spin yarns. If you want to be particularly energetic you can fetch a barrel of paraffin from the store."
Rayburn didn't think he would—and said so. Instead—he began to stow the provisions on board, wondering why his usually energetic Patrol Leader was "hanging on to the slack", and what excuse he would make when the Scoutmaster returned.
When at length the two Scoutmasters arrived, Rayburn was considerably surprised to hear Woodleigh report: "All correct, sir", and Mr. Armitage was interested to hear how the operation of filling up the tank was performed.
"It's never too late to learn," he remarked; "especially as far as boats are concerned."