Read "Stem to Stern" by Oliver Optic online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
When the Marian was half-way across the lake, the waves began to diminish in force; and within an eighth of a mile of the high shore the water was comparatively smooth. The barge was then headed to the southwest, and had a quiet time of it till she reached Sandy Point. The Gildrock and the Winooski had followed her, and were now about an eighth of a mile astern of her.
Dory Dornwood was very popular with all the students, not because he was the nephew of the principal, but on account of his fairness, his pluck, and his good judgment. Though Captain Gildrock believed and trusted in him, no one could accuse him of partiality. Perhaps the coxswains of the two twelve-oar barges, who knew that Dory was on board of the Marian, considered it wise and prudent to follow the lead of the eight-oar barge for this reason.