In A Few
Moments He Commanded Attention Again, With The Same Success As Before.
He Then Ordered Another Boy To Toss His Oar, Then Another, And So On,
Until He Had Taught The Movement To Each One Separately.
He gave to
each one such explanations as he needed, and when necessary he made
them perform the evolution twice, so as to be sure that each one
understood exactly what was to be done.
Then Forester gave the command
for them all to toss together, and they did so quite successfully. The
oars rose and stood perpendicularly like so many masts; while Forester
paddled the boat slowly through the water. Then he directed the boys
to let the oars down again, gently, to their places along the thwarts,
and put the crew at ease.
The boys perceived now that they were making progress. They were
gaining slowly, it is true, but surely, and Marco saw where the cause
of his failure was. He had not realized how entirely ignorant all
these boys were of the whole mystery of managing an oar and of acting
in concert; and besides, he had not had experience enough as a
teacher, to know how short the steps must be made, in teaching any
science or art which is entirely new.
In the same slow and cautious manner, Forester taught the boys to let
the blades of their oars fall gently into the water, at the command,
"_Let fall_." He taught one at a time, as before, each boy
dropping the blades into the water and letting the middle of the oar
come into the row-lock, while he held the handle in his hands ready
to row.
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