“Yes!”
“Then do it, and I’ll take the side wheel. Look out for this line when she tightens. Let her go!”
Kneeling, his head still below the sides, Arnold grasped the lever and pulled it back, and the Frolic jumped away. Toby, crouched by the side wheel, frantically lashed the free end of the painter about the steering post.
Bang!
There was a sound of splintering wood, and then shouts from the shore.
“Hit us somewhere!” panted Toby, tugging at the small wheel in his effort to swing the Frolic around. “Better lie flat, Arn!”
“Lie flat yourself, you silly fool! They’ll get you if you sit up like that!”
Toby crouched lower. “This line’s choked around the wheel and I can hardly turn her,” he panted. “Is she coming, do you think?”
“Isn’t your line taut?”
“Yes, but——”