“‘You can all swim,’ he said. ‘Find a fishing-line. There are plenty in the cabin.’ “Somebody produced one in a moment. It was on a reel. “‘Hold fast to the reel,’ said the Commodore. ‘I’ll take one end of the line and dive through the companion-way. I think I can find my way over the side and up on the bottom of the boat. I’ll hold my end, and when you feel three jerks make this end fast. Then you will have to follow, one at a time. Don’t let go of the line as you go out, and you can’t miss the way. I’ll hold the other end.’ “‘Very good, Commodore,’ said the Broker, ‘but I’d better go first. You know what a swimmer I am, and I reckon the man who goes first will have the hardest job.’ “The Commodore was disposed to dispute this proposition, but the Lawyer spoke up sharply: ‘Let him go, Commodore,’ he said. ‘It’s a forlorn hope at best, and he’s far and away the best swimmer.’ So it was settled, and in another moment the Broker had disappeared. “Well, that’s all the story. The plan worked and we were all perched on the keel inside of ten minutes. There we were seen by the life-saving patrol, and were all taken off safely soon after. I can’t say I ever enjoyed yachting after that day, and, as I said, I never played poker on Sunday again.” Foss Stopped the Game _ONE OF THE DUTIES OF AN OLD-TIME MISSISSIPPI RIVER PACKET CAPTAIN_ “I have always been a little hazy in my notion of what are the proper functions of the Captain of a Mississippi River steamboat,” said the gray-haired young-looking man. “I suppose, really, that nothing would have been easier than for me to find out, for I traveled a great deal on the river some years ago, and I knew a lot of people who were engaged in steamboating as a business, besides enjoying a personal acquaintance with several of the Captains themselves. But there are some things that I do not like to know definitely, and this is one of them. It is more interesting to speculate about them in idle moments and to think of all sorts of whimsicalities as possible than to get at the facts, which would not be interesting at all. “Now, on the lakes, and on such salt-water craft as I have traveled on, the Captain of the boat is very much in evidence. He has all to say about everything, and seems to be a sort of court of appeals for the trial and final disposition of all cases, trivial or important. He seems to have a personal supervision over every detail of his business, and to have very little real leisure. It may be, of course, that the Captain of a Mississippi boat has similar duties and responsibilities, but it doesn’t seem so to the average passenger.