are, just as
comfortable and well fixed as if you owned the biggest hotel in New York
city."

Attractive as they found the cruisers, some of the Rangers thought the
racers even more so. They too were decked over, but their cockpits were
only little wells--just big enough for one's feet. All else was
water-tight compartment, so that, even if the canoe were rolled over and
over in the water, she could not fill or sink, but would float on the
surface like a bubble. The sails of a racer were twice as large as those
of a cruiser, and to keep her right side up under her great spread of
silk or linen the crew would "hike" himself out on the end of a long
sliding deck-seat, and there, poised in mid-air, would skim above the
crests of the waves with the speed and safety of a sea-bird. The racer's
sails cannot be lowered, and are never reefed; but if the squall blows
so heavy that the outboard weight of the crew can no longer hold the
canoe up to it, he allows her to gracefully capsize, and the outspread
sails lie flat on the water, while he clings to the air-tight hull, or
stands on the brass centre-plate until the blow moderates. Then, using
his sliding-seat as a lever, he pulls his craft once more into an
upright position, scrambles aboard, and speeds away as though nothing
had happened. This sort of work is like circus-riding, and only through
much practice may one attain perfection at it; but as the Sea Rangers
watched the movements of the swift-darting racers, it seemed to them not
only the most fascinating sport in the world, but also the perfection of
sailing.

They were even ready to admit that all their previous knowledge of
seamanship and sailing was but ignorance when compared with that they
were now acquiring.

As Cracker Bob Jones said: "What chumps we were to think we knew how to
handle a boat before we came here. Now, though, we have got the whole
thing down so fine that if ever we get a chance to sail all by
ourselves, I rather guess somebody'll be surprised."

In spite of this self-confidence, all that Cracker Bob or any others of
the Rangers really knew of canoe-sailing was what they learned by
looking on; for while the canoe-men were perfectly willing to take them
out paddling, not one of them cared to trust his fragile craft to
inexperienced hands when under sail.

If the Sea Rangers were pleased with the New York boys and their
belongings, the latter were no less so with the lads from Berks, and
when