erboard and struggling in the river, the skipper, Will
Rogers, and several more of the Rangers were flung to the deck, and the
sloop, left to her own devices, was rounding into the wind with such a
slatting of sails, sheets, and blocks, as caused those boys who were
still below to imagine that she had been struck by a cyclone. The
mainsail had gybed over, and though the boom was, fortunately, so
lifted, that it cleared the heads of those who stood on deck, the sheet
had tripped them, and flung two of the number overboard.

Mercifully no one was injured by the mishap; and as the vessel lost her
headway, the two who were overboard managed to clamber into the small
boat towing astern. They had hardly gained this place of safety when
Cracker Bob again sprang into the water after his beribboned straw hat
which was jauntily floating away. Glad as he was to recover this bit of
property, he was heavy-hearted at the loss of his highly prized
patent-leather pumps, which had been kicked off and lost in his first
plunge.

By the time these two had clambered aboard, with river water running
from them in streams, the others had regained their feet, and were
examining their bruises, while the skipper, after assuring himself that
no serious damage was done, was jamming the helm hard down, and getting
the sloop once more on her course. He did not utter a word until this
was accomplished, when, with a mournful shake of his head, he exclaimed,
"And this is only the beginning of the cruise!"

Then, as though remembering that authority must be maintained at all
hazards, he sung out:

"You Jabe, go for'ard and wring yourself. As for you other young
pirates, you stay on deck and don't get out of my sight for a single
minute, or I'll murder ye all."

At this awful threat little Cal Moody sincerely wished himself once more
safely at home, though the others minded it so little, that it in no
wise lessened the interest with which they watched the sleeves of
Cracker Bob's flannel jacket shrink as they slowly dried in the hot sun.

[Illustration: CAL MOODY'S MERMAID.]

Finally, bethinking himself of a duty that he might perform, and perhaps
thereby win his way into the skipper's good graces, Cal slipped away
forward, and hung over the bluff bows of the sloop to watch for the
mermaids, in whose existence he believed as firmly as in his own. As he
gazed down at the parted waters swiftly streaming backward, the little
chap became so oblivious