"So we are; but I thought we would begin at the beginning," replied Dory. "It is as necessary to know how to come to anchor as it is to do any thing else in sailing a boat." "All you have to do is to throw it overboard when you want to stop," said Archie. "Suppose you were coming into Beechwater with a lively breeze, such as we have to-day, how would you manage to anchor in the middle of it?" asked the skipper. "When we got to the middle of the lake, I should drop the anchor," answered Archie. "And a pretty mess you would make of it! If you were coming in under jib and mainsail, you would take in the jib some time before you reached the locality where you wished to anchor. Then, as you near the anchorage, you would come to, or throw her up into the wind, thus spilling the mainsail. When the boat had lost her headway, or most of it, you would let go the anchor. If you kept the sail drawing, you would drag the anchor, get aground, or run into some other craft." "Suppose you are caught in a sudden squall?" asked Ash. "You should not allow yourself to be caught in a sudden squall. A boatman should be always on the lookout for such things. Squalls don't come out of a blue sky; and when the weather is threatening, the skipper should get ready for it." "But suppose the skipper was careless, and did get caught?" persisted Ash. "In that case, he would not let go the anchor; for he could not well do any thing worse than that with his sails set. If the skipper can't haul down the jib, he should not anchor. But he could take in sail quicker than he could get the anchor to bite." "Bite? Does the anchor bite? I shall be afraid of it," said Archie. "It would not bite you; but an anchor is said to bite when it gets hold at the bottom of the lake. You don't anchor in a squall unless you have got the sails down. More of that farther on. I have told you how to come to anchor under ordinary circumstances. You must make your plan for doing so beforehand." "I think I could anchor her," said Archie. "It is not a dangerous operation. If the wind blows hard, you need a long rode, which means a long cable. In a blow, there is a heavy sea, and the motion of the boat causes a constant jerking on the anchor. With a short rode, it may lift it so that the flukes are detached from the bottom, especially if it be rocky. The longer the cable, the less the slant of the rope. In Lake Champlain, the water is four hundred feet deep in some places." "Where, Dory?" asked Ash.