Straight for the pier the Pirate turned, and then came about, and made for the end of the course.
The other yachts were strung out behind, Dorothy beating up closely, Connie Evans and Sue last of all, and the rest dotting the bay between the Pirate and the Tidy Jane.
Polly saw the way Nancy had caught up to her, and for the minute she held her breath. All at once she knew that she was going to lose the race, and the strangest part of it was, she could see Nancy win, and feel a great wave of joy over it. As the Pirate’s boom passed her, she slackened her own main sheet, turned her head and smiled at Nancy, and the first cheer that went up for the winner of the Junior Cup, was when Polly stood up, and waved her hand with a clear,
“Hurrah! Hurrah!”
Tom promptly stood on his head, as the shouts rang out over the bay, and shore. The Admiral himself helped Nancy out as if she had been a queen.
“You did handsomely, little girl, handsomely,” he said.
Polly was hardly a minute behind her, and as she too reached the Orienta pier, and tossed her rope up to the willing hands, she threw her arms around the victor.
“I am so glad you’ve won, Nancy,” she said. “You don’t know how glad.”
“So am I,” answered Nancy, softly, her glance seeking one face out of all the crowd. “Where’s father?”
“Here I be, mate!” called the old skipper, joyously, and right there before the crowd, he swung Nancy up in his arms, and kissed her proudly.