e comes father in the sailboat," cried Frank, as he discovered
Captain Sedley approaching in his pleasure yacht.

"Ay, beating up agin the wind."

"Can't we have a race with him?" asked Charles Hardy.

"Sartin, if you like. There is a fresh breeze springing up."

The boys waited patiently until Captain Sedley reached the spot.

"How do you like your craft, boys?" asked he, as he threw his boat up
into the wind, alongside the Zephyr.

"First-rate!" they exclaimed with one voice.

"Three cheers for Captain Sedley," cried Tony Weston, taking off his
cap and swinging it round above his head. "One!"

"Hurrah!"

"Two!"

"Hurrah!"

"Three!"

"Hurrah!" and the boys all clapped their hands for several moments.

Captain Sedley took off his hat, and politely returned his
acknowledgments. When boys get to cheering, they hardly know where to
stop; and when Fred Harper proposed three for Uncle Ben, there was a
prompt and hearty response to the call.

"I'm much obleeged to you, boys, for the compliment," said the veteran,
pulling off his tarpaulin.

"Now for the race," cried Charles.

Uncle Ben explained the wishes of the boys to Captain Sedley; and he
readily agreed to a trial of speed, with the remark that he should
expect to be beaten.

"Let me get my boat under good headway before you start," continued he,
as he hauled aft his jib-sheet, and brought the boat before the wind.

The boat's crew waited till he had got nearly the eighth of a mile from
them, and then, with all the forms, the Zephyr got under way. Uncle Ben
had taught them to keep time in rowing by the swaying back and forth of
the coxswain's body.

"Don't get excited, boys; the wind is freshening," said Uncle Ben.
"Steady, now."

The Zephyr darted like an arrow through the water under the impetus of
the twelve oars. Frank, in his anxiety to win the race, began to sway
to and fro so rapidly that Uncle Ben was obliged to caution him several
times to keep cool.

"We are overhauling him very rapidly," said he; "if you pull regular,
and save your strength, you will pass him before you get half way to
the beach. Steady, Frank; don't hurry them."

The boys pulled steadily; and, as the old sailor had predicted, they
passed Captain Sedley's boat long before they came to the beach. As the
Zephyr shot past him, a long, loud cheer burst from her crew.

"Isn't this fun!" exclaimed Charles Hardy.

"Glorious!" replied Phil Barker, who was at the next oa