Boating.
The alterations and improvements, which Forester had ordered in the
boat, were completed at the time promised. Marco said that it would
require a crew of eight to man the boat properly: six oarsmen, a
bowman, and a coxswain. Marco pronounced this word as if it was spelt
_coxen_. This is the proper way to pronounce it. It means the one
who sits in the stern, to steer the boat and direct the rowers. In
fact, the coxswain is the commander of the boat's crew.
"_I_ will be bowman," said Marco, "and you can be coxswain, and
then we shall want six boys for oarsmen."
"You will have to explain to me then what my duties will be," said
Forester, "for I don't even know what a coxswain is."
"Why, he's the commander," said Marco. "He gives all the orders."
"Then you must be coxswain at first," said Forester, "for I don't know
any thing about it. You have got to teach us all. After I have learned
to manage a boat with six oars, man-of-war fashion, I should like to
be coxswain sometimes very much. And it seems to me," added Forester,
"that you and I had better go down first alone, until you get me
taught, and then we can get the boys to come afterward."
"O no," said Marco, "you'll all learn easily enough together. I can
tell you all exactly what to do."
Forester acceded to this proposal, and they made out a list of six
boys, and Forester authorized Marco to invite them to come. "Be sure,"
said Forester, "to tell their parents that we are going out in a boat,
and tell them that I am going too." Marco did this. The boys all
gladly accepted the invitation. They came first to the house, and then
proceeded by a path, from the foot of the garden, which led to the
mill-pond. It was about half-past one when they reached the boat.
Here there was a great scene of confusion, as the boys all commenced
talking and asking questions together. They found the boat in fine
order, being perfectly tight and dry, and the new seats being all in
their places. The oars, however, were not there. Forester recommended
to Marco to send a detachment of his men, to go to the wagon-maker's
shop and get them. So Marco sent off three of the boys, calculating
very correctly that they could bring two oars apiece. Before many
minutes they returned, each of the boys having two oars, one on each
shoulder.
The other boys immediately began to take the oars, and they all
advanced together toward the boat, to get in.
"Stop," exclaimed Marco, "stop, boys! you must not go aboard without
an order. I'm coxswain; you must wait till I tell you, before one of
you goes aboard. John, come out."
John, who had stepped into the boat, came back again on hearing this
peremptory order, and the boys waited on the bank. Marco then
told them to put the oars in. The boys began to pitch them in, in
confusion, some falling upon the thwarts, and some into the bottom of
the boat.
"No,--stop," said Marco; "that isn't the way. Put 'em in in order."
"Yes, put 'em in order," said John. "Let's put 'em in order."
"Lay 'em along the thwarts," said Marco, "the blades forward."
Marco explained to the boys how to place the oars. They were laid
along the middle of the thwarts so as to leave room to sit by the side
of them. They were placed in such a manner that the handle of one came
upon each seat.
"_Aboard!_" said Marco, in a military tone.
The boys did not understand that order, and of course did not obey it.
"_Aboard_, I say!" repeated Marco; "when I say _Aboard_, you
must all get into the boat."
With this explanation of the word of command, the boys understood what
they were to do, and got aboard the boat as fast as they could. There
was much confusion among them in getting their seats. Several of them
began to take up their oars, until they were forbidden to do so by
Marco, in a loud voice.
"You must not touch the oars," said he, "until I say _Toss_. Then
you must take them and toss them right up in the air."
"How?" said one of the boys, named Joseph. "How, Marco?"
This question was scarcely heard amid the confusion.
"Be silent, boys; don't talk, and don't stop to ask _how_, but do
just as I tell you."
Marco was so much accustomed to the idea which sailors attach to
the word _toss_, and to the manner in which they perform the
evolution, that he forgot how many different ways there might be of
tossing up an oar. The proper way is, when the command is given, for
each oarsman to raise the blade of his oar quick, but gently, into the
air, letting the end of the handle rest upon the thwart. It is then in
a position to be let down into the water conveniently when the next
order, which is, _Let fall_, is given.
The raising of the oars, and then letting them fall, all exactly
together, by the crew of a man-of-war's boat, makes a very pretty
spectacle.
The boys, however, knew nothing about this, for Marco, as it was all
very plain and familiar to him, did not realize the necessity of
making very minute explanations to such new recruits as those
that were under his command. Accordingly, when the order came to
_toss_, some of the boys sat still, looking at Marco, and not
knowing what to do; others raised their oars into the air, some one
way and some another; and Joseph, who was a little discomposed by the
rebuff he had met with, concluded that he would obey as literally as
possible, let what would come of it and he gave his oar a high toss
into the air. It fell at a short distance from him into the water,
went down for a moment out of sight, and then, shooting out for half
its length, it fell over upon its side and began to float away.
[Illustration: "TOSS."]
Hereupon ensued just such a scene of laughter shouts, and confusion
as might have been expected. All began to shout out exclamations and
orders, and to give directions how to proceed to recover the lost oar.
The boys whose oars were still left, thrust them confusedly into the
water, and began pushing, poking, and paddling with them, in order to
get the boat out to where Joseph's oar was floating. All this time
Forester remained on the bank, laughing at this specimen of nautical
command and subordination.
After a time the oar was recovered, and Marco, after much scolding and
vociferation, got his crew in order again. Forester said that he would
remain where he was, on the bank, until Marco had tried his oarsmen a
little. So Marco went on giving his orders. He succeeded finally in
getting the boys all in their seats again, with their oars in their
hands.
"Now, boys, mind," said he, "and I'll tell you exactly what to do.
_Attention!_ When I say _Attention_, you must all stop talking.
_Attention!_ Now you mustn't speak a word. You must hold your oars out
over the water and have them all ready, the handles in your hands, and
when I say _Give way_, then you must all begin to row, all together
exactly, so as to keep the stroke. You must keep the stroke with the
stroke-oarsman."
But the boys did not know who the stroke-oarsman was, and they began
clamorously to inquire, notwithstanding the injunction to silence
which they had received. Marco explained to them that the
stroke-oarsman was the one who sat nearest to him, that is, the one
farthest aft. As the oarsmen were all sitting with their backs toward
the bow of the boat, their faces were toward the stern, and therefore
the one who sat farthest aft could be seen by the rest. This is the
reason why the thwart which is farthest aft is made the seat of the
best oarsman, and the others are required to make their motions keep
time with his. For the oars in a boat that is fully manned are so
close together, that, unless they keep time exactly with each other,
the blades would cross and hit one another in utter confusion. But
if they keep the stroke, as they call it, exactly together, all goes
right. For this reason the oarsman who sits aft, by whose oar the
movements of all the other oars are to be regulated, is called the
stroke-oarsman.
The boys, however, knew nothing of all this. Marco contented himself
with giving one general direction to them, to keep the stroke with
the stroke-oarsman, and to begin when he gave the order, "_Give
way_." Accordingly, after all were silent again, the oars being
extended over the water, and Forester standing on the bank watching
the operation, Marco called out in the tone of command, "_Give
way!_"
The boys immediately began to row, all looking at the stroke-oarsman,
but failing entirely to keep time with him. The oars thumped against
each other, crossed each other, and made all manner of confusion.
Some could not get into the water, and others could not get out; and
Joseph's oar, which somehow or other came out too suddenly, while he
was pulling hard upon it, caused him to pitch backward off his seat
and tumble over into the bottom of the boat.
[Illustration: BAD ROWING.]
"_Oars!_" said Marco, "OARS!"
What Marco meant by _oars_ they did not know, so they paid no
attention to the command, but some stopped rowing in despair, while
others kept on, banging the blades of the oars against one another,
and plashing the water, but produced no effect whatever in respect to
propelling the boat. In the mean time the air was filled with shouts
of laughter and loud vociferations.
"_Oars!_" exclaimed Marco again, with the voice of a colonel at
the head of his regiment. "_Oars!_ Why don't you stop when I say
_Oars_?"
The boys began to stop, shouting to one another, "Stop!" "Stop!" In a
few minutes all was still again. The boys began to take their oars in
and one of them rose and said,
"Poh! this is all nonsense. You can't do any thing with oars. I'd
rather have one good paddle than all the oars in New York."
In fact, Marco himself began to despair. He uttered some impatient
exclamations, and tried to paddle the boat toward the shore. But he
found he was almost as awkward in managing a paddle, as the other boys
were in working oars. He succeeded, however, at last, in getting the
boat to the shore, and then he told the boys that they might as well
get out, for they could not do any thing at all about rowing.
"You don't seem to get along very well, Marco," said Forester: "what
is the matter?"
"Why, I havn't got any crew. They don't know any thing about it."
"It seems to me the fault is in the commander," said Forester.
"In me?" said Marco. "Why, I ordered them right, but they wouldn't
obey."
"Yes, your orders would have been right, if you had had a trained
crew. But you don't manage in the right way to teach raw recruits."
"I wish you would try, then, cousin Forester," said Marco.
"Well," said Forester, "I have no objection to try. Boys, are you
willing to have me for commander?"
"Yes, sir," "Yes, sir," said all the boys.
"I shall be a great deal more strict than Marco," said Forester. "So I
don't expect that you will like me. But I will try. I don't want quite
so many oarsmen to begin with; I should rather teach a few at a time.
Are there any of you that would like to come ashore, and let the rest
practice first?"
None of the boys moved. They all wished to practice first. This was
just as Forester expected.
"Very well," said Forester; "I know how I can thin out my crew. As
fast as I find that you don't obey my orders, I shall put you ashore."
"But suppose we don't understand?" said one of the boys.
"I shall explain fully beforehand what you are to do. And, Marco, you
must observe how I manage, and then you will know another time. When
you have got any thing to teach, the art consists in dividing the
lesson into a great many very short steps, and letting your pupils
take one at a time."
Forester knew nothing about managing a boat's crew until that day, but
he had observed very attentively all the orders which Marco had given,
and noticed their meaning, and thus he was prepared to manoeuver the
boat as far as Marco had gone in giving his orders. He accordingly
stepped into the boat and took Marco's place; while Marco himself
walked forward and took his place at the bow of the boat, saying that
he was going to be bowman.
"Marco," said Forester, "you say that when the order is
_Attention_, the crew must be silent; what is the order when I
want to give them liberty to talk again?"
"_Crew at ease_" said Marco.
"Very well. Now, boys, when I say _Attention_, you must be still,
look at me, hear all I say, and obey the orders as exactly as you can,
but ask no questions and give me no advice, nor speak to one another,
till I say, _Crew at ease_. Then you can talk again. Perhaps two
or three of you will disobey, and I have no objection to that, as I
should like some excuse for putting some of you ashore."
Forester smiled as he said this, and every boy determined that he
would not be the one to be sent ashore.
"_Attention!_" said Forester.
Forester then put his paddle into the water and paddled the boat out
into the pond a little way. While he was doing this, there was a dead
silence on board the boat. Not a boy spoke a word; and when, at last,
Forester stopped paddling, the boat floated on a little way gently
through the water, and not a sound was to be heard except the distant
barking of a dog on the opposite shore.
"_Crew at ease_," said Forester. The boys laughed, changed their
positions, and began to talk.
"I didn't get any of you ashore then," said Forester, "but I shall
succeed the next time, for I shall watch my opportunity when you are
all busy talking, and say, _Attention_, suddenly; then you will
not all stop in an instant, but some will go on just to finish their
sentence, and this will be disobeying the order, and so I shall get
you ashore."
The boys laughed; they thought that it was not very good policy for
Forester to give them this warning of his intention, as it put
them all upon their guard. Presently the word of command came very
suddenly--"_Attention!_" Every voice was hushed in an instant;
the boys assumed immediately an erect position, and looked directly
toward Forester.
"Joseph," said Forester, "when I give order _Toss_, you are
to take up your oar and raise the blade into the air, and hold it
perpendicularly, with the end of the handle resting on the thwart by
your side, on the side of the boat opposite to the one on which you
are going to row,--_Toss!_"
So Joseph raised his oar in the manner directed, the other boys
looking on.
"Let it down again," said Forester. Joseph obeyed.
"_Crew at ease_," said Forester.
Forester acted very wisely in not keeping the attention of the crew
very long at a time. By relieving them very frequently, he made the
distinction between being under orders and at ease a very marked
and striking one, so that the boys easily kept it in mind. In a few
moments he commanded attention again, with the same success as before.
He then ordered another boy to toss his oar, then another, and so on,
until he had taught the movement to each one separately. He gave to
each one such explanations as he needed, and when necessary he made
them perform the evolution twice, so as to be sure that each one
understood exactly what was to be done. Then Forester gave the command
for them all to toss together, and they did so quite successfully. The
oars rose and stood perpendicularly like so many masts; while Forester
paddled the boat slowly through the water. Then he directed the boys
to let the oars down again, gently, to their places along the thwarts,
and put the crew at ease.
The boys perceived now that they were making progress. They were
gaining slowly, it is true, but surely, and Marco saw where the cause
of his failure was. He had not realized how entirely ignorant all
these boys were of the whole mystery of managing an oar and of acting
in concert; and besides, he had not had experience enough as a
teacher, to know how short the steps must be made, in teaching any
science or art which is entirely new.
In the same slow and cautious manner, Forester taught the boys to let
the blades of their oars fall gently into the water, at the command,
"_Let fall_." He taught one at a time, as before, each boy
dropping the blades into the water and letting the middle of the oar
come into the row-lock, while he held the handle in his hands ready
to row. Then, without letting them row any, he ordered them to
_toss_ again; that is, to raise the oars out of the water and
hold them in the air, with the end of the handle resting upon the
thwart. He drilled them in this exercise for some time, until they
could go through it with ease, regularity, and dispatch. He then gave
the order, "_Crew at ease_," and let the boys rest themselves and
enjoy conversation.
While they were resting, Forester paddled them about. The boys asked
him when he was going to let them row, and Forester told them that
perhaps they had had drilling enough for one day, and if they chose he
would not require any thing more of them, but would paddle them about
and let them amuse themselves. But they were all eager to learn to
row. So Forester consented.
He taught them the use of the oar, in the same slow and cautious
manner by which his preceding instructions had been characterized. He
made one learn at a time, explaining to him minutely every motion. As
each one, in turn, practiced these instructions, the rest looked on,
observing every thing very attentively, so as to be ready when their
turn should come. At length, when they had rowed separately, he tried
first two, and then four, and then six together, and finally got them
so trained that they could keep the stroke very well. While they were
pulling in this manner, the boat would shoot ahead very rapidly. When
he wanted them to stop, he would call out, "_Oars_." This was
the order for them to stop rowing, after they had finished the stroke
which they had commenced, and to hold the oars in a horizontal
position, with the blades just above the water, ready to begin again
whenever he should give the command.
At first the boys were inclined to stop immediately, even if they were
in the middle of a stroke, if they heard the command, _oars_. But
Marco said that this was wrong; they must finish the stroke, he said,
if they had commenced it, and then all take the oars out of the water
regularly together. Forester was careful too to give the order always
between the middle and the end of a stroke, so that the obeying of the
order came immediately after the issuing of it.
By this means Forester could stop them in a moment, when any thing
went wrong. He would order, "_Give way_," and then the boys would
all begin to pull their oars. As soon as any of them lost the stroke,
or whenever any oars began to interfere, or any other difficulty or
accident occurred, he would immediately give the order, "_Oars_."
This would instantly arrest the rowing, before the difficulty became
serious. Then, after a moment's pause he would say, "_Give way_,"
again, when they would once more begin rowing all together. All this
time, he sat in the stern and steered the boat wherever they wanted to
go.
[Illustration: GOOD ROWING.]
Marco wished to have Forester teach the boys how to back water, and to
trail oars, and to put the oars apeak, and to perform various other
evolutions. But Forester was very slow in going on to new manoeuvers
before the old ones were made perfectly familiar. He accordingly spent
nearly an hour in rowing about the pond, up and down, to make the boys
familiar with the stroke. He found, as is, in fact, universally the
case with beginners in the art of rowing, that they were very prone to
row faster and faster, that is, to accelerate their strokes, instead
of rowing regularly, keeping continually the same time. They gradually
improved, however, in respect to this fault, and by the middle of the
afternoon Marco began to think that they were quite a good crew.
They practiced several new evolutions during the latter part of the
afternoon, and just before tea time they all went home, much pleased
with the afternoon's enjoyment, and with the new knowledge and skill
which they had acquired. They also planned another excursion the
following week.