boards began creaking which had not creaked all winter. Also the Fortune of the Indies, after seventy years of knocking about in strange havens without mishap, suddenly swelled and sprung a seam and began to bulge ominously along her bottom planking. Jane discovered it and fled horrified, duster in hand, to the boys, who were having Easter vacation. Mark, who, as I have said, thought of being a ship-builder one day, came to look at the damage; and said that a short time in drydock under his experienced supervision would make the Fortune seaworthy once more.
So the step-ladder was brought into play again, and the little ship borne off by Mark to his room, which, despite the aunts' mild protests, still looked more like a carpenter-shop than was seemly. Here, with Jane at his elbow, he investigated the trouble and prescribed the necessary repairs. It was a matter of careful pressure and gluing, it appeared, and a section of the inner sheathing must be removed in order to get at the sprung seam. So Mark rolled up his sleeves, pried off the hatch, and plunged his arm into the black and musty hold of the little clipper.
