midday
She appeared to drag . It did not seem as though the Indians were doing good work , and he spoke sharply to them several times in the course of the morning . He had a suspicion that the steersman often turned the flat of his paddle against the course of the canoe ; but , as his back was turned , he could not be certain of this . What he did know for a surety was that , as they ran in toward the beach for a short midday halt , the Zebra , with unpardonable carelessness , allowed the frail craft to run against a sharp rock that cut a jagged gash in her birchen side . The next moment she was on the beach , so that no one got even a wetting ; but a long delay ensued while a patch of bark was stitched over the rent and payed with pitch . When at length all was again in readiness for a start , Donald calmly assumed the position of steersman in the stern , at the same time motioning the Zebra to take his place among the paddlers . The man hesitated a moment , seemed about to refuse , and then , with a second glance at the young officer 's determined face , slowly obeyed the order .