the skipper. "Suppose you
don't carry the tiller to the weather side, what will happen then?"

"I don't know that any thing will happen," answered Nat, rather abashed
at his own ignorance.

"That's the point of all that has been said," added Dory.

"Well, what will happen? Will she tip over?" asked Nat.

"That is the very thing she won't do; and that's the reason why a boat
ought to carry a weather helm, so that she won't tip over if the
helmsman don't happen to have his eyes wide open tight. If you don't put
the helm to the weather side, the head of the boat will come up to the
wind. As she comes up into the wind, it spills the sail."

"Spills the sail!" exclaimed Corny, who could hold in no longer. "I have
heard of spilling the milk, but not of spilling a sail."

"It means to spill the wind out of the sail," added Dory. "In other
words, it takes the wind out of the sail, and it don't press against the
sail any longer. And, if the wind don't press against the sail, of
course it won't tip the boat over."

"That's plain enough. I understand that first-rate," said Thad. "If a
puff brings the boat up into the wind, then the wind don't bear hard on
the sail, and it won't upset the boat."

"Now let us see how it works when a boat carries a lee helm. Instead of
coming up into the wind when a flaw strikes the sail, some boats go the
other way. The flaw crowds them off from the wind. The more she falls
off, the harder the wind presses against the sail. If the puff throws
the head of the boat far enough from the wind, it will blow square
against it; and, if there is enough of it, it will upset any boat. Then,
if you have to put the helm away from the wind in order to keep the
course, that's a lee helm; and it's a dangerous thing in any boat,
though it can generally be easily corrected if the skipper understands
the matter."

"I see it," said Thad. "I suppose the owner of this boat did not
understand it."

"They say he was obstinate about it, and would not take the advice of
those who did understand the matter," added Dory. "I have shifted the
ballast; and I think the Goldwing will work all right now, though I wish
the foremast was in the old hole."

The members of the club declared that they understood the matter
perfectly. They were willing to return to Burlington in the Goldwing if
it could be shown that she carried a weather helm. When the skipper had
finished his explanation, he went forward, and took another l