But there was the rub. The Star of the South needed more 'beef' in her than the Battle-Axe. She wasn't so quick in stays. By the time Ryder yelled, 'Let go and haul,' the Battle-Axe was gathering headway on a fresh tack.
'And instead of having two more hands than we are allowed, we are two short,' said his wife bitterly. 'If I were you, Will, I'd take these Greeks.'
'Not by an entire jugful,' replied Captain Ryder. 'I remember the Lennie and the Caswell, my dear. I never knew Valparaiso so bare of men.'
'And we're sailing to-morrow,' said Connie Ryder angrily, 'and you've betted him a hundred pounds we shall dock before him. It's too bad. I wonder whether he'd give us another day?'
But Ryder shook his head.
'And you've known him for years! He's spending that money in his mind.'
'But not on his wife, Will,' said Mrs. Ryder. 'If we win I'm to have it.'
'I'd give him twenty to let me off,' said Ryder.
But Connie Ryder went on board the Battle-Axe to see if she could not induce her husband's cousin to forgo the advantage he had already gained before sailing. She found him dark and grim, and as hard as adamant.
'A bet's a bet, and business is business,' said Watchett. 'We app'inted to-morrow, and bar lying out a gale from the north with two anchors down, and cables out to the bitter end, I'll sail.'