Under the other lad's directions, Joe flattened down the
jib-sheet, and, going into the cabin, let down a foot or so of centerboard.
The excitement of the struggle had chased all unpleasant thoughts from
his mind. Patterning after the other boy, he had retained his coolness.
He had executed his orders without fumbling, and at the same time without
undue slowness. Together they had exerted their puny strength in the face
of violent nature, and together they had outwitted her.
He came back to where his companion stood at the tiller steering, and he
felt proud of him and of himself; and when he read the unspoken praise
in 'Frisco Kid's eyes he blushed like a girl at her first compliment. But
the next instant the thought flashed across him that this boy was a thief,
a common thief; and he instinctively recoiled. His whole life had been
sheltered from the harsher things of the world. His reading, which had
been of the best, had laid a premium upon honesty and uprightness, and he
had learned to look with abhorrence upon the criminal classes. So he drew
a little away from 'Frisco Kid and remained silent. But 'Frisco Kid,
devoting all his energies to the handling of the sloop, had no time in
which to remark this sudden change of feeling on the part of his companion.
But there was one thing Joe found in himself that surprised him.
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