the mill.

"There is a man in the balcony," he said. "I'll ask him to call to
the girls to come. It isn't fair to go without them. You know Greta
thought _so_ much of sailing her boat with ours."

"Nonsense," said Will. "She has got other company now. I don't believe
they know how to manage their boats, and we will have to help them.
Girls always have to be taken care of."

"But," persisted Martin, "you said that Greta was real smart and a
first-rate fellow--girl, I mean."

"She is well enough for girls' plays; but what can she know about
boats? Come along!"

Martin said no more, and the boys proceeded for some distance up the
stream.

"If we go around that bend," said Will, "we will be out of sight of
the mill, and can have our own fun."

Around the bend they found a bridge, and a little way above this the
stream widened into a large pool, the banks of which were shaded by
willows. There they launched the schooner "America" and the sloop
"Columbus" with appropriate ceremonies. The sails and the rudders were
properly set for a trip across the pool. The ships bent gracefully to
the breeze, and went steadily on their course, the little flags waving
triumphantly from the mast-heads. They moved so gracefully and behaved
so beautifully that Martin expressed his sorrow that the girls were
not there to see them. Will made no reply, but he felt a twinge of
remorse as he remembered how Greta had looked forward to this sail as
a great event. He tried to quiet his conscience with the consideration
that it was much better for her not to be there; for she would
certainly have felt mortified at the contrast between their pretty
vessels and the poor canal-boats.

The boys crossed the bridge, and were ready for the arrival of their
vessels in the foreign port. Then they started them on the return
voyage and recrossed the bridge to receive them at home.

This was done several times, but at last there was an accident. Will's
schooner, the "America," from some unknown cause, took a wrong tack
when near the middle of the pool, and going too far up, got aground
upon a tiny, grassy island. She swayed about for a minute, and the
boys hoped she would float off, but soon the masts ceased to quiver.
The "America" had quietly moored herself on the island as if she
intended to remain there forever. What was to be done? The longest
pole to be found would not reach the island from either bank, or from
the bridge, and the pool was deep.