jerked clean off his
feet by some quick and unexpected motion of a sail and flung into the
water. When this occurred the person who had been ducked crawled out
on the bank of the canal again and went on board by way of the
gangplank, returning stubbornly to his task.

The booms in particular were possessed of a restless and unstable
spirit. They made sudden swoops, sweeps, and dashes in all directions.
Sometimes as many as three of the crew of the Jasper B. would be
knocked to the deck or into the water by a boom at the same time. But
Cleggett noted with satisfaction that they were plucky; they stuck
valiantly to the job. A doubt assailed Cleggett as to the competence
of Cap'n Abernethy, but he was loyal and fought it down.

Finally Cap'n Abernethy hit upon a novel and ingenious idea. He tied
stout lines to the ends of the booms. The other ends of these ropes he
ran through the eyes of a couple of spare anchors. Taking the anchors
ashore, he made them fast to the wooden platform which was alongside
the Jasper B. Then he took up the slack in the lines, pulling them
taut and fastening them tightly.

Thus the booms were held fast and stiff in position, and the crew could
get the canvas spread without being endangered by their strange and
unaccountable actions.

This brilliant idea of anchoring the booms to the land would not have
been practicable had it not been for a whimsical cessation of the wind,
a lull such as incident to the coming of spring storms in these
latitudes. While the wind was in abeyance the men got the sails
spread. Then the Captain untied the lines, brought the spare anchors
on board, knocked the gangplank loose with a few blows of his ax, and
waited for the wind to resume.

When the wind did blow again it came in a gust which was accompanied by
a twinkle of lightening over the whole sky and grumble of thunder. A
whirl of dust and fine gravel enveloped the Jasper B. For a moment it
was like a sandstorm. A few large drops of water fell. The gust was
violent; the sails filled with it and struggled like kites to be free;
here and there a strand of rope snapped; the masts bent and creaked;
the booms jumped and swung round like live things; the whole ship from
bowsprit to rudder shook and trembled with the assault.

Cleggett, watchful at the wheel, prepared to turn her nose away from
the bank, but he was astonished to perceive that in spite of her
quaking and shivering the Jasper B. did n