The sea looked very bright as it reflected the rays of the sun, and we thought we should enjoy a row, so a man was soon found who had a boat. As soon as we got a little way from the shore, we each wonted to try our hands with the oars, so Tom took one, and I the other. We were rowing away nicely, when suddenly there was a loud crash. Tom had broken his oar in two pieces. He had dipped it too low in the water, and pulling hard to get the boat along quickly, there was too much strain on the oar. I do not think any of us knew how to send the boat along with one oar only, and yet as we looked at the one lying in the boat, no one was afraid or thought we should not get home again.
Why was this do you think? Why did we not shout for help? Because we had great confidence in the big sailor man who was with us, and felt sure he would know what to do, and so it proved, for he took up the largest piece of the broken oar and said, “I can row with this; you keep the other oar. So back we went little by little the spot for landing was reached.