“That puts you in charge of the bell and whistle,” the captain told him. She instructed him to ring the bell four times, pull the whistle for five seconds, and then ring the bell again to let the boiler engineer below deck know we were setting off. Chase asked her questions about the other boats in the water, and she told him about their system to slow down or reverse if necessary. I loved how interested he was in everything. Like the whole world just fascinated him. When she mentioned the steamboat being on a track, I realized my steering was largely ceremonial, but I was okay with that.
