“Well, cousin Forester, here is the boat.”

“Yes,” said Forester, “but the man don’t seem to be at home.  I presume he’s at the mill.”

“And what shall we do in that case?” asked Marco.

“Why, I will go into the house first, and ascertain the fact, and get a paddle.”

So Forester went into the house, and soon afterward returned, bringing with him a paddle.  He said that the man was at the mill, but that his wife said that they might have the boat to go and find him.  “I thought,” said Forester, “that you would rather go in the boat than walk.”

“Yes,” said Marco, “I should.”

“Besides,” continued Forester, “I can teach you to paddle.”

Marco took the paddle from Forester’s hand.  He had never seen one before.  He said that they always used oars, not paddles, in New York harbor.  A paddle is shaped very differently from an oar.  It is much shorter and lighter,—­though the blade is broader.  A paddle is worked, too, differently from an oar.  An oar acts as a lever against the side of the boat,—­the middle of it resting in a small notch called a row-lock, or between two wooden pins.  But a paddle is held in the hands entirely.

“What do they have paddles for in this country?” said Marco.  “Oars are better.”

“You are not competent to decide that question,” replied Forester.

“Why not?” said Marco; “I have rowed boats many a time.”

“Yes, but you have never paddled much.  You have used oars, but not paddles, and so you can not compare them.”

“Well,” said Marco, “I mean to try this paddle now, and then I can tell.”

Marco had seen the boys who were with him in the boat that morning, using their poles as paddles, and he had used one of the poles in that manner himself; and he was just upon the point of saying something upon the subject, when suddenly he recollected that it would betray him.  In fact, Marco found that having such a secret as this upon his mind, was a source of great embarrassment and constraint, as he more than once came very near making some allusion inadvertently, which would have resulted in his exposure.  While speaking of boats, and oars, and paddles, and such subjects, he had to be continually upon his guard and to watch all his words.

[Illustration:  PADDLING]

They got into the boat and pushed out upon the water.  Forester taught Marco how to use the paddle.  He gave him his seat in the stern of the boat, and directed him to grasp the lower end of the handle with the other hand.  Then, by dipping the blade in the water and pushing the water back, the boat was propelled forward.  He also explained to him how, by turning the blade of the paddle, one way or the other, he could give the bow of the boat an impulse toward the right or toward the left.

“Thus you see,” said Forester, “with a paddle you can steer, but with an oar you can not.”

“With two oars I can,” said Marco.