"Here, you see," said Power, "we have one ten-oared and six eight-oared boats. Any boy in the Fifth form may join them. There is another upper and four lower Fifth-Form boats. We speak of the three upper and four lower boats. There is a captain for each of them, and he selects his crew from among the fellows who wish to join. You observe that the crew of each boat has a different uniform, and on grand occasions, when all appear in full dress, we flatter ourselves that we appear to great advantage. Besides these, there are what we call outriggers, and tunnies, and tubs; and, of course, you will at once have one of them." "Which do you intend to be, Warrender, a `dry bob,' or a `wet bob'?" said Anson, coming up to them. "I hope the latter." Reginald did not exactly know what this meant; but as Anson had given him a hint, he answered, "Oh, of course a wet bob." "Oh, ah, that's the swell thing. I am glad of it. I thought you were the sort of fellow for wet-bobbing." Reginald found that wet-bobbing consisted in paddling about in a boat of one's own, even though it might be only a "tub," or dinghy. "But, I say, can you swim?" asked Anson; "because you know that you will not be able to boat till you have `passed.'" "What's passing?" asked Reginald. "Oh, I'll tell you," said Anson. "A good number of fellows from time to time got drowned from boats being capsized, and at last a law was passed that no fellow should be allowed to boat till he had passed a swimming examination before certain of the masters. We have an old waterman, Harry Cannon, who teaches the lower boys to swim at Cuckoo Weir. As soon as he thinks a fellow can swim well enough he advises him to have a try the next passing day. It's great fun to see the weather-beaten old fellow Harry in his Eton blue coat and Eton arms worked in silver on his sleeve, as he sits in his punt from one end to the other of a summer's day, dangling lower boys at the end of a short blue pole. Often fellows, if they have any pluck, can swim in two or three weeks. They make nothing of bathing three times a day in summer when they are learning to swim. Just go any warm summer day to Cuckoo Weir, after twelve, or after four, or after six, and you'll find it crowded with fellows bathing, and many of them waiting till Harry can give them a turn in his belt. On a passing day two or three of the masters come down and take their stand just above `Middle Steps.' A punt then carries out a number of shivering and rather funking fellows into the middle of the stream, and as the master gives the word, one after another jumps overboard, and according to his pluck takes a `rat's header' or `forter.' Then away they swim to the lower steps, and if they get there in safety and in pretty good style, they have to swim out again from where the master is standing, turn, and come back when he calls. If they sing out like Caesar, `Help me, Cassius, or I sink,'