The boys, however, knew nothing of all this.  Marco contented himself with giving one general direction to them, to keep the stroke with the stroke-oarsman, and to begin when he gave the order, “Give way.”  Accordingly, after all were silent again, the oars being extended over the water, and Forester standing on the bank watching the operation, Marco called out in the tone of command, “Give way!”

The boys immediately began to row, all looking at the stroke-oarsman, but failing entirely to keep time with him.  The oars thumped against each other, crossed each other, and made all manner of confusion.  Some could not get into the water, and others could not get out; and Joseph’s oar, which somehow or other came out too suddenly, while he was pulling hard upon it, caused him to pitch backward off his seat and tumble over into the bottom of the boat.

[Illustration:  BAD ROWING.]

“Oars!” said Marco, “OARS!”

What Marco meant by oars they did not know, so they paid no attention to the command, but some stopped rowing in despair, while others kept on, banging the blades of the oars against one another, and plashing the water, but produced no effect whatever in respect to propelling the boat.  In the mean time the air was filled with shouts of laughter and loud vociferations.

“Oars!” exclaimed Marco again, with the voice of a colonel at the head of his regiment. “Oars! Why don’t you stop when I say Oars?”

The boys began to stop, shouting to one another, “Stop!” “Stop!” In a few minutes all was still again.  The boys began to take their oars in and one of them rose and said,

“Poh! this is all nonsense.  You can’t do any thing with oars.  I’d rather have one good paddle than all the oars in New York.”

In fact, Marco himself began to despair.  He uttered some impatient exclamations, and tried to paddle the boat toward the shore.  But he found he was almost as awkward in managing a paddle, as the other boys were in working oars.  He succeeded, however, at last, in getting the boat to the shore, and then he told the boys that they might as well get out, for they could not do any thing at all about rowing.

“You don’t seem to get along very well, Marco,” said Forester:  “what is the matter?”

“Why, I havn’t got any crew.  They don’t know any thing about it.”

“It seems to me the fault is in the commander,” said Forester.

“In me?” said Marco.  “Why, I ordered them right, but they wouldn’t obey.”

“Yes, your orders would have been right, if you had had a trained crew.  But you don’t manage in the right way to teach raw recruits.”

“I wish you would try, then, cousin Forester,” said Marco.

“Well,” said Forester, “I have no objection to try.  Boys, are you willing to have me for commander?”

“Yes, sir,” “Yes, sir,” said all the boys.