Forester told them not
to fear. He said that a good commander never put too much upon his
men, or voluntarily got them into any difficulty without planning
beforehand a way to get out.

They soon got down to the water's edge again. Here, instead of the
broad and smooth pond which they had above the dam, they found a
stream eddying, and foaming, and flowing rapidly down between rocks
and logs. There was a bridge across the stream too, a short distance
below. The boys were a little inclined to be afraid to embark, in what
appeared to be a rather dangerous navigation, but they had confidence
in Forester, and so they readily obeyed when Forester ordered the crew
aboard.

"Now, Mr. Bowman," said Forester, "keep a sharp lookout ahead for
rocks and snags, and fend off well when there is any danger."

So Marco kneeled upon a small seat at the bow of the boat, and looked
into the water before him, while Forester propelled and guided the
boat with his paddle. They advanced slowly and by a very tortuous
course, so as to avoid the rocks and shallows, and at length, just
above the bridge, they came to a wider and smoother passage of water:
and here Forester ordered the oars out. There was only room for them
to take four or five strokes before they came to the bridge, and under
the bridge there was only a very narrow passage where they could go
through. This passage was between one of the piers and a gravel
bed. As they advanced toward it, Forester called out, "_Give way
strong!_" and all the boys pulled their oars with all their
strength, without, however, accelerating the strokes. This gave
the boat a rapid headway, and then Forester gave the order to
_trail_, when the boys simultaneously lifted the oars out of the
row-locks and let them drift in the water alongside of the boat. As
the boat was advancing very swiftly, the oars were immediately swept
in close to her sides, and thus were out of the way, and the boat
glided safely and swiftly through the passage, and emerged into a
broader sheet of smooth water beyond.

"_Recover!_" said Forester. The boys then, by a peculiar
manoeuver which they had learned by much practice, brought back their
oars into the row-locks, and raised the blades out of the water, so
as to get them into a position for rowing. "_Give way!_" said
Forester, and immediately they were all in motion, the boat gliding
swiftly down the stream.

After they had gone on in this way a few minutes, Forester orde