ow, of course, with the
positions reversed. So, gaining confidence, and feeling wonderfully
self-satisfied at the way he could sail a boat, he sped on.

Fortunately for him, the breeze was just perfect and as steady as could
be, and he knew nothing of the risks to which he was exposed. He sailed
on by narrow gorge and ravine--openings in the great hills--in profound
ignorance of the fact that through any of these a violent squall of wind
might come with a whistle and shriek, catch the sail and lay it flat
upon the water, while the boat filled and went down.

Then, too, he was happily ignorant of the sets of the tide and the wild
currents which raced through some of the channels, and of the hundreds
of rocks which lay below the surface, ready to catch the keel or rip
open the thin planks of a boat.

Max saw none of these dangers,--he did not even dream of them,--but sat
with flushed face, gazing onward, as he skimmed in exhilarating motion
over the sunny sea.

"I do like sailing," he said to himself, in spite of the hand which held
the sheet, at which the sail snatched and tugged, beginning to ache, and
the other which grasped the rudder feeling numb. For the moment, too,
he forgot that the sun did not always shine, and that the sea rose
angrily, and that there were such things as storms.

All went quite smoothly, however, for about three parts of the distance,
when all at once a peculiar washing sound reached his ears; and, gazing
in the direction from which it came, he became aware of the fact that
there was some water in the bottom of the boat, gliding here and there
as the little vessel gave to the pressure of the wind.

He paid no heed to it at first, only thinking that the boat must be a
little leaky, and knowing that he ought by rights to seek forward a
little tin can and bale the water out.

But the management of the sail and rudder fully occupied him till he
made the next tack, when it struck him that the quantity of water had
certainly increased, as it ran over to the other side.

But still it caused him no uneasiness. He only felt that before long he
might have wet feet, and he kept on looking out ahead for Dunroe.

At the next tack, there was undoubtedly a good deal more water, and the
bottom boards of the boat kept rising, one going so far as to set sail
on a little voyage of its own, and floating about.

What was to be done?--to throw the boat up in the wind, and stop and
bale, or to sail on