"Never in a light-draughted, single-screwed boat," he declared. "She'd never answer to her helm while going astern, and if the wind were abeam, she'd be blown to lee'ard of the man in the water. Now remember, if there's time, put the boat's helm over so that the boat's stern flies away from the person overboard. That is to avoid hitting him with the propeller, since men who have fallen overboard almost invariably try to swim towards the boat. Then, keeping 'easy ahead', make a complete circle and come up bows on to the man, keeping just enough way for the boat to answer her helm, and still get there quicker and with far more chance of success than by any other way." "I'll remember that, sir," said Peter. "But I hope I'll never have to try it." "And I, too," added Mr. Armitage fervently. "But one never knows." CHAPTER XIII The Bore The _Olivette_ saved her tide into the outer basin of Le Havre. She was just in time to enter the lock gates of the Bassin de l'Eure before they were closed on the falling tide. Meanwhile, the _Acacis_ had berthed in the Bassin Vauban. "More floating docks!" exclaimed Flemming ruefully, as he surveyed the stagnant water. "How long do we stop here, sir, please?" "Only until we've handed back the man belonging to the _Acacis_, and shown our papers to the authorities," replied Mr. Armitage. "We are going to bring up in the Tancarville Canal to-night." "Canal, sir?" echoed Roche. "I thought we were going up the River Seine." "So we are, Dick," replied the Scoutmaster. "This canal, however, saves us a dangerous bit of navigation. The estuary of the Seine is full of shifting sandbanks, and if we did happen to get aground, the _Olivette_ would stand a great risk of becoming a total loss. There have been numerous instances of quite large vessels grounding in the estuary and heeling over and filling. You see the bore complicates matters." "The bore, sir?" exclaimed Flemming. "Yes, you'll make its acquaintance before very long," replied Mr. Armitage. "We'll get the tail end of it several times before we reach Rouen." Just then the skipper of the _Acacis_ arrived with a couple of "hands" to take the absent member of the crew back to the ship. "Who was the Sea Scout who took to the ditch?" inquired the Old Man, after he had expressed his warmest thanks for the rescue and care of the man who had fallen overboard. "Wasn't much, eh? I don't know about that. I call it pretty plucky. I mean to report the circumstance to the Royal Humane Society when I get back--which may be in a couple of months or more. On this job one never knows when the trip's going to end." The next caller was a Port official. To him Mr. Armitage handed a document, signed by the French Minister responsible for the splendidly organized inland waterways of the Republic. The paper was a permit for the _Olivette_ to make use of the Tancarville Canal, and it was expressly stated that the passage through the locks was free.