`haul', and we'll soon have a little
sail upon her."

I did as he bade me, and, pulling at the rope, the sail was hoisted part
of the way with the effect that it ballooned out in an instant, and the
boat went sidewise.

"Mind, uncle," I shouted; "the boat's going over;" and I clung to the
other side.

"No, it isn't, Nat," he said coolly. "We could heel over twice as much
as that without danger. I'll show you. Take another pull here."

"No, no, uncle," I cried, "I'm satisfied; I believe you."

"Take hold of the rope and haul," he shouted; and I obeyed him, with the
boat heeling over so terribly that I felt sure that the water would rush
over the side.

He laughed as he made fast the rope, and bade me go to the rudder, for I
had taken tight hold of the side of the boat.

There was something so quick and decided about Uncle Dick's way of
ordering anyone that I never thought of disobeying him, and I crept to
the rudder, while he took his place beside me as the boat danced up and
down upon what I, who had never seen the open sea, thought frightful
waves.

"Now, Nat," he said, "you see this rope I have here."

"Yes, uncle."

"This is the sheet, as it is called, of the sail, and it runs through
that block to make it easier for me to give or take as I want. Now, my
boy, here is your first lesson in managing a sailing-boat whether the
wind is rough, or as gentle as a breath. Never fasten your sheet, but
hold it loose in your hand."

"Why, uncle?" I said, as it seemed to me that it would have saved all
the trouble of holding it if it had been tied to the side.

"That's why," he said, as just then the wind increased, so that I clung
once more to the side, for the sail was blown so hard that the boat
would have gone over enough for the water to rush in if Uncle Dick had
not let the rope run swiftly through his hands, making the sail quite
loose, and the boat became upright once more.

"I brought you out on a roughish day, Nat," he continued, "so as to give
you a good lesson. Look here, Nat,--if an unskilful rider mounted a
spirited horse he would most likely be thrown; and if a person who does
not know how to manage a sailing-boat goes out in one on a windy day,
the chances are that the boat is capsized, fills, and goes to the
bottom. Now, if I had not had hold of the sheet then, and eased off the
sail--let it go, as a sailor would call it,--we should have been
capsized, and then--"

"What then, uncle?"