k Adams cast off the weather sheet in the new position, Mr.
Norwood hauled in the lee. For a short distance the Maud had the wind on
her starboard quarter; then the sheets were hauled in, and she took it
on the beam, till she was up with the buoy on Stubbs Point Ledge, which
she was to round, leaving it on the port. The ledge was not far from the
land, on which was a considerable bluff, so that the wind had not more
than half its force. In rounding the buoy, it was necessary to gybe
again; and it was done without shaking up the yacht half so much as at
the north-east point.

"Now comes the pull," said Donald, as the Maud rounded the buoy. "Stand
by your sheets! Now brace her up! Give her the whole of the board,
Dick."

Donald put the helm down; the jib and mainsail were trimmed as flat as
it was judicious to have them; and the Maud was close-hauled, standing
up to the northward. The skipper was careful not to cramp her by laying
too close to the wind. He was an experienced boatman, and he governed
himself more by the feeling of the craft under him than by his sight. He
could shut his eyes, and tell by the pressure of the tiller in his hand
whether she was cramped, or was going along through the water.

"Did you get the time when the Skylark passed the Head, Mr. Norwood?"
asked Donald.

"No; you made things so lively, I hadn't time to look," replied the
gentleman. "I should like to know just how many minutes we are ahead of
her."

"I think I can tell you, sir," added the skipper, with a smile.

"How many?"

"How many do you think, sir?"

"Five or six."

"Not more than one and a half, Mr. Norwood. Neither yacht has to give
the other time, and what we gain belongs to us."

"I should have thought we were at least five minutes ahead of her."

"No, sir. Now we have a chance to manoeuvre a little," added Donald. "I
know just what the commodore will do; he will stand on this tack, when
he gets round the buoy, till he is almost up with Brigadier Island; then
he will make a long stretch. I shall not do so."

"Why not?"

"Because, if the wind lessens, he will get under the lee of the land. I
shall go just one mile on this tack," replied Donald. "Have you any
rubber coats on board, Sam?"

"I have only two."

"You will want them, for we are beginning to toss the spray about, as
though it didn't cost anything."

It was decidedly damp on the deck of the Maud, for the water thrown up
by the waves, dashing against