"Ready there!" shouted Donald, as the Skylark came nearly in range of the Penobscot and the chimney.
"All ready," replied Sam Rodman.
The gun forward had been loaded, and a seaman stood at the lock-string, to salute the first boat in.
"Time!" shouted Sam, as the mainsail of the Skylark shut in the chimney on the shore; and the six-pounder awoke the echoes among the hills.
"Twelve, forty, and thirty-two seconds," added Frank, as he took the time from the watch.
"Twelve, forty, thirty-two," repeated Donald, as he wrote it on the schedule.
The crowd on the judges' yacht cheered the commodore as the Skylark rounded the Penobscot, and the ladies waved their handkerchiefs at him with desperate enthusiasm.
"I thought you said the Sea Foam was to beat the Skylark," said Nellie Patterdale.
"I think she may do it yet," replied Donald.
"And Sam's new boat must beat them both, Don John," laughed Maud Rodman.