five hours later Jihn, Susan and jim Brading were resting in the cockpit of the Goblin after a hard morning's work. Mrs walker and the others had gone into Ipswich to get food. it had been a busy morning, bringing all the blankets and other things they would need to live and sleep on board the Goblin. when everything had been put into the little cabin, there was no room left for people. But susan found a place for everything, and the next time John and Jim looked, the cabin looked empty, and very tidy.
'you'd better learn the ropes,' said Jim, and he and John spent the hour putting up the mainsail and bringing it down again. the third time John was able to do it alone. Jim explained the other things that John needed to know about the Goblin's different sails and ropes. there were more ropes than in the little boats that
john had sailed before, but after a while he began to understand how everything worked and was able to make himself useful.
when mother came back from Ipswich with Titty and Roger, they brought a lot of food, and Susan put it all away in the cupboards in the cabin.
jim,' said mother,' have you got any charts? show me where you're going to go.'
jim brought out his chart of Harwich harbour.