“Done!” answered Fred Century, promptly.
“We’ll beat you by half a mile!” sang out one of the boys aboard the Pornell boat, a lad named Will Carey.
“Better do your blowing after the race is over,” answered Pepper.
“Oh, we’ll beat you all right enough,” said the owner of the Pornell boat. “This sloop of mine is going to be the queen of this lake, and don’t you forget it.”
A few words more were spoken—as to how the boats should round Cat Point—and then the race was started. There was a favorable breeze, and each craft let out its mainsail to the fullest and likewise the topsail and the jib.
“We are carrying four passengers while they are only carrying three,” said Dale, when the race was on in earnest. “We should have made them take some extra ballast aboard.”
The course mapped out was about two miles in one direction and two miles in another. At the start of the race the Alice had a little the better of it, but before half a mile had been covered the Ajax came crawling up and then passed the Putnam Hall boat.
“Here is where we leave you behind!” sang out Fred Century.
“We’ll show you a clean pair of heels over the whole course,” added Will Carey.
“As soon as you are ready to give up the race, blow your fog-horn,” said Bat Sedley, the third member of the party aboard the Ajax.