d aghast, for it meant that whatever the
emergency no sail could be taken off the _Charming Lass_. With the
end of the halyards aloft no man could reach them in time to avert a
catastrophe.

"You're sure drivin' her, skipper!" roared Pete in amazed admiration.
"Up them halyards go. Oh, Lord, but she's a dog, an' she'll stand
it."

So up the halyards went, and with them went a warning that whoever
jumped to loosen them would get a gaff-hook in his breeches and be
hauled down ignominiously.

This time when the log was hauled for the hour from three to four in
the afternoon it showed a total of seventeen knots, or a fraction
under twenty miles for the hour. And best of all, the three flying
schooners had come back five miles. By ten o'clock that night Code
judged they had come back five more, and knew that the next day would
bring the test.

They were not in over-deep water here, for the coast of Nova Scotia is
extended for miles out under the sea in excellent fishing shoals and
banks.

At Artimon Bank they switched their course to westward so as to pass
inside of Sable Island and round Cape Sable in the shoalest water
possible. Down across Western they roared, and almost to Le Have
before midnight came.

Now it is one thing to sail like the Flying Dutchman with the sun up
and one's eyes to use, but it is another to career through the night
without taking in a stitch of canvas, trusting to luck and the
Providence that watches over fishermen that the compass is good and
that no blundering coasters will get in the way.

When dawn broke wild and dirty, the _Charming Lass_ was reeling
through the water less than a quarter of a mile astern of the _Rosan_
and the _Herring Bone_. Through the murk Code could see the _Nettie
B._ three miles ahead.

An hour and she had drawn abreast of her two rivals; another hour and
she had left them astern. Day had fully broken now, and Code, grinning
over his shoulder at the defeated schooners, gave a cry of surprise.
For no longer were there two only. Another, plunging through the mist,
had come into view; far back she was, but carrying a spread of canvas
that gave indications enough of her speed.

But Code spent little time looking back. He gripped the wheel, set his
teeth, and urged the _Lass_ forward after the _Nettie_ with every
faculty of his power. After that terrible night the crew had lost
their fear and worked with enthusiasm.

Some hands were always at the pumps, when t