ill in the fish business at Freekirk Head. It was the direct
predecessor of the _Nettie B._, which was entirely Nat's. On the death
of the elder Burns when the _May Schofield_ went down, the _M. C.
Burns_ had been sold to realize immediate cash. And here was her log!

Code looked over pages that were redolent of the events in his
boyhood, for Michael was a ready writer and made notes regularly even
when the _M. C._ was not on a voyage. He had spent an hour in this way
when he came to this entry on one of the very last pages:

"June 30: This day clear with strong E. S.-E. wind. This day Nat, in
the _M. C. Burns_, raced Code Schofield in the _May Schofield_ from
Quoddy Head to moorings in Freekirk Head harbor. My boy had the worst
of it all the way. I never saw such luck as that young Schofield devil
has. He won by half an hour. Poor Nat is heartbroken and swore
something awful. He says he'll win next time or know why!"

"Just like old man Burns!" thought Code. "Pities and spoils his rascal
of a son. But the boy loved him."

Code had not thought of that race in years. How well he remembered it
now! There had been money up on both sides, and the rules were that
no one in either schooner should be over twenty except the skippers.

What satisfaction it had been to give Nat a good trimming in the
fifty-year-old _May_. He could still feel an echo of the old proud
thrill. He turned back to the log.

"July 1: Cloudy this day. Hot. Light S.-W. breeze. Nat tells me
another race will be sailed in just a week. Swears he will win it.
Poor boy, what with losing yesterday and Caroline Fuller's leaving the
Head to work in Lubec, he is hardly himself. I'm afraid the old _M.
C._ won't show much speed till she is thoroughly overhauled.
Note--Stmr. _May Schofield's_ policy runs out July 20th. See about
this, sure."

There was very little pertaining to the next race until the entry for
June 6, two days before the event. Then he read:

"Nat is quite happy; says he can't lose day after to-morrow. I told
him he must have fitted the _M. C._ with wings, but he only grinned.
Take the stmr. to St. John to-morrow to look after policies, including
_May Schofield's_. She's so old her rates will have to go up. Won't be
back till day after the race, but Nat says he'll telegraph me. Wonder
what business that boy's got up his sleeve that makes him so sure he
will win? Oh, he's a clever one, that boy!"

Here the chronicle ended. Little did Michae