When
He Wanted Them To Stop, He Would Call Out, "_Oars_." This Was
The Order For Them To Stop Rowing,
After they had finished the stroke
which they had commenced, and to hold the oars in a horizontal
position, with
The blades just above the water, ready to begin again
whenever he should give the command.
At first the boys were inclined to stop immediately, even if they were
in the middle of a stroke, if they heard the command, _oars_. But
Marco said that this was wrong; they must finish the stroke, he said,
if they had commenced it, and then all take the oars out of the water
regularly together. Forester was careful too to give the order always
between the middle and the end of a stroke, so that the obeying of the
order came immediately after the issuing of it.
By this means Forester could stop them in a moment, when any thing
went wrong. He would order, "_Give way_," and then the boys would
all begin to pull their oars. As soon as any of them lost the stroke,
or whenever any oars began to interfere, or any other difficulty or
accident occurred, he would immediately give the order, "_Oars_."
This would instantly arrest the rowing, before the difficulty became
serious. Then, after a moment's pause he would say, "_Give way_,"
again, when they would once more begin rowing all together. All this
time, he sat in the stern and steered the boat wherever they wanted to
go.
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