Now you hand in your traps, and I will stow them away, then you take your place in the middle of the boat.

Here's a paddle for you, and when you begin to feel yourself comfortable, you can start to try with it, easy and gentle to begin with; but you must lay it in when we get near where we may expect that redskins may be in the woods, for the splash of a paddle might cost us all our scalps." James took his seat in the middle of the boat.

Jonathan was behind him.
Nat handled the paddle in the bow.

There was but a brief delay in starting, and the ten boats darted noiselessly out on to the lake.

For a time, James did not attempt to use his paddle.