At the firing of the gun on board the Sea Foam,
they ran up their jibs and got a good start. The wind was west, a lively
breeze, but not heavy. Each yacht carried her large gaff-topsail and the
balloon-jib. The course was about forty miles, the return from the rock
being a beat dead to windward. Robert and Donald each did his best, and
the Maud came in twelve minutes ahead of the Skylark.

"I am satisfied now," said Robert, when they met after the race.

"I was satisfied before," laughed Donald. "I was confident the Maud was
faster than the Skylark or the Sea Foam."

"I agree with you now; and I have more respect for myself than I had
before, for I thought it was you, and not the Maud, which had beaten
me," added Robert. "I have also a very high respect for the firm of
Ramsay & Son."

[Illustration: THE MAUD WINNING THE RACE. Page 338.]

The members of the club enjoyed the excursion exceedingly; and on their
return it was decided to repeat it the next year, if not before. The
club-house on Turtle Head was finished when the fleet arrived at
Belfast; and during the rest of the vacation, the yachts remained in the
bay. They had chowders and fries at the Head, to which the ladies
were invited; and Donald made himself as agreeable as possible to Miss
Nellie on these occasions. Possibly her father and mother had some
objections to this continued and increasing intimacy; if they had, they
did not mention them. They were compelled to acknowledge, when they
talked the matter over between themselves, that Donald Ramsay was an
honest, intelligent, noble young man, with high aims and pure
principles, and that these qualifications were infinitely preferable to
wealth without them; and they tacitly permitted the affair to take its
natural course, as I have no doubt it will. Certainly the young people
were very devoted to each other; and though they are too young to think
of anything but friendship, it will end in a wedding.

In the autumn, after the frame of the Alice was all set up, Barbara
obtained a situation as a teacher in one of the public schools, and
added her salary to the income of the boat-builder. The family lived
well, and were happy in each other. After the boating season closed, the
yacht club hired apartments, in which a library and reading-room were
fitted up; and the members not only enjoyed the meetings every week,
but they profited by their reading and their study. Donald is still an
honored and useful membe