He, however, obeyed his father's command, and steered towards the
farther shore, turning the head of the boat in an oblique direction, a
little way up the lake. Presently Mr. Holiday saw some friends of his in
a boat that was coming in the opposite direction. He ordered Rollo to
steer towards them. Rollo did so, and soon the boats came alongside. The
oarsmen of both boats stopped rowing, and the two parties in them came
to a parley.

There was a little girl in the other boat, named Lucia. There was no
other child in that boat, and so there was nobody for Lucia to play
with. Lucia therefore asked her father and mother to allow her to get
over into Mr. Holiday's boat, so that she could have somebody to play
with.

"Why, Lucia," said her mother, "Rollo is a great boy. He is too big to
play with you."

"I know it," said Lucia; "but then he is better than nobody."

Rollo might perhaps have been made to feel somewhat piqued at being
considered by a young lady as only better than nobody for a companion,
had it not been for the nature of the objection, which was only that he
was too large. So he felt complimented rather than otherwise, and he
cordially seconded Lucia's wish that she might be transferred to his
father's boat, and at length her mother consented. Lucia stepped
carefully over the gunwales, and thus got into Mr. Holiday's boat. She
immediately passed along to the stern, and took her place by the side of
Rollo at the rudder. The boats then separated from each other, and each
went on its own way.

"What is this handle," said Lucia, "that you are taking hold of?"

"It is the tiller," said Rollo.

"And what is it for?" asked Lucia.

"It is the handle of the rudder," said Rollo. "The rudder is what we
steer the boat by, and the tiller is the handle of it. The rudder itself
is down below the water."

So Rollo let Lucia look over the end of the boat and see the rudder in
the water.

Rollo then proceeded to explain the operation of the rudder.

"You see," said he, "that when I move the tiller over _this_ way, then
the head of the boat turns the other way; and when I move it over _that_
way, then the head of the boat comes round this way. The head of the
boat always goes the contrary way."

"I don't see why it should go the contrary way," said Lucia. "I should
think it ought to go the same way."

"No," replied Rollo; "it goes the contrary way. And now I am going to
steer to a good place to land on the shore