Luckily an old man in a row-boat saw the runaway Whitewing, and kindly caught her and brought her up to the bridge. As the boys baled her out, they told him how the accident happened, and the gruff old man said it “sarved ’em right.” “When you tow a boat next time,” he continued, “you’ll know enough to put all your weight in the stern. Did you ever see a steamboat towing a row-boat with a man in the bow? If ever you do, you’ll see him going overboard mighty quick. A boat’ll sheer all over creation if you tow her with a fellow in the bow. You just put the biggest of you fellows in the stern of that there boat, and she’ll go through under the bridge just as steady as a church.”
The boys gladly took the old man’s advice. When the boat was baled out, they floated the rope down again, and when it was made fast, Tom Schuyler, who was the heaviest of the boys, offered to sit in the stern. His weight brought the bow of the boat out of the water, and she was towed quickly and safely through. The boys resumed their places as soon as Harry had put on dry clothes, and after a short and easy row glided under the Spuyten Duyvel railway bridge, and found themselves on the broad and placid Hudson. They rowed on for nearly a mile, and then, having found a little sandy cove, ran the boat aground, and went ashore to rest. After a good swim, which all greatly enjoyed, including Harry, who said that his recent bath at Farmersbridge ought not to be counted, since it was more of a duty than a pleasure, they sat down to eat a nice cold lunch of ham sandwiches that Mrs. Wilson had kindly prepared; and when they were no longer hungry, they stretched themselves lazily in the shade.
“Well, boys,” said Harry, “we made a big mistake at the bridge; but we learned something, and we won’t get the boat swamped that way again.”
“I’m awfully obliged to Harry for jumping in after me,” said Joe; “but it’s the first time I ever heard of a captain jumping over after a sailor. When a sailor falls overboard, the captain just stands on the deck and looks around, kind of careless like, while the second mate and four sailors jump into a boat and pick the man up. That’s the way it’s done; for I know a fellow that saw a man fall overboard on a steamship, and he said that was how the captain did.”
“All right,” said Harry; “I won’t jump in for you again, Joe. The fact is, boys, I oughtn’t to have done it without waiting to find out whether there was really anything the matter with Joe. I’ll tell you what we’ll do. Joe is a first-rate swimmer, and we’ll make a rule that whenever anybody is to jump into the river for anything, Joe shall do it. What do you say?”
“Oh, I’m willing enough,” said Joe. “I don’t care who jumps as long as the captain don’t. It won’t look well for the captain to be all the time jumping overboard to pick somebody up.”
“A better rule,” remarked Tom, “would be that no fellow shall fall overboard.”
“I move to amend that,” cried Jim, “by forbidding any accidents to happen to any of us.”
“But you can’t do that,” said Tom, who never understood a joke. “Accidents never would happen if people could help themselves.”
“Well,” said Harry, “if the rest of you will agree not to fall overboard, I’ll promise that the captain sha’n’t spend all his time in jumping after you. But if you are all ready, we’d better start on. There’s a nice little breeze, and we can rest in the boat.”