Explore "On Time" by Oliver Optic on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Even as close-hauled as she could be under the double-reefed mainsail, the _Belle_ flew on her course; but under this short sail she did not labor so heavily as before, and I had no fear but that she would make tolerably good weather of it. As I had anticipated, I found comparatively smooth water under the lee of the west shore; but, with two reefs in the mainsail, I found it impossible to lie close enough to the wind to avoid running out into the heavy sea.
I decided to make a sheltered cove, and turn out the last reef I had put in, satisfied that I could keep close enough under this sail to avoid the savage sea in the middle of the lake. Waddie was reclining upon one of the berths, as comfortable as though he had been in his father's house, while I was again shivering with the cold and wet to the skin. I supposed he was working up his good resolutions. I never had much hope of Waddie, his temper was so bad and his impulses so violent. On the other hand, it had always seemed to me that a very little improvement would make a good fellow of Tommy Toppleton. It was, therefore, almost incredible that the former should be the first to proclaim his good resolutions, and express a desire to mend his character.