ly when amateurs are making fools of themselves.

We thundered on past the fishermen, and nothing had happened. Charley
grinned at the disappointment he saw in my face, and then shouted:

"Stand by the main-sheet to jibe!"

He put the wheel hard over, and the yacht whirled around obediently.
The main-sheet slacked and dipped, then shot over our heads after the
boom and tautened with a crash on the traveller. The yacht heeled over
almost on her beam ends, and a great wail went up from the seasick
passengers as they swept across the cabin floor in a tangled mass and
piled into a heap in the starboard bunks.

But we had no time for them. The yacht, completing the manoeuvre, headed
into the wind with slatting canvas, and righted to an even keel. We
were still plunging ahead, and directly in our path was the skiff. I
saw Big Alec dive over-board and his mate leap for our bowsprit. Then
came the crash as we struck the boat, and a series of grinding bumps as
it passed under our bottom.

"That fixes his rifle," I heard Charley mutter, as he sprang upon the
deck to look for Big Alec somewhere astern.

The wind and sea quickly stopped our forward movement, and we began to
drift backward over the spot where the skiff had been. Big Alec's black
head and swarthy face popped up within arm's reach; and all
unsuspecting and very angry with what he took to be the clumsiness of
amateur sailors, he was hauled aboard. Also he was out of breath, for
he had dived deep and stayed down long to escape our keel.

The next instant, to the perplexity and consternation of the owner,
Charley was on top of Big Alec in the cockpit, and I was helping bind
him with gaskets. The owner was dancing excitedly about and demanding
an explanation, but by that time Big Alec's partner had crawled aft
from the bowsprit and was peering apprehensively over the rail into the
cockpit. Charley's arm shot around his neck and the man landed on his
back beside Big Alec.

"More gaskets!" Charley shouted, and I made haste to supply them.

The wrecked skiff was rolling sluggishly a short distance to windward,
and I trimmed the sheets while Charley took the wheel and steered for
it.

"These two men are old offenders," he explained to the angry owner;
"and they are most persistent violators of the fish and game laws. You
have seen them caught in the act, and you may expect to be subpoenaed as
witness for the state when the trial comes off."

As he spoke he rounde