teen had just crossed and was now swooping away on her first tack
toward the distant stake-boat. The momentum the _Coquette_ obtained
racing down to the line was what Polly wanted.

"Go!" shouted the starter, looking at his watch and comparing it with
the timekeeper's.

The _Coquette_ flashed past the line of motor-boats and smaller
craft that lined the course for some distance. The course was not very
well policed and one of the small steamers, with a party of
excursionists aboard, got right in the way of the racing boats.

"Look out, Wynnie!" shouted Polly. "I'm going to tack to pass those
boats."

Wyn fell flat on the decked-over portion of the _Coquette_, and the
boom swung across. With gathering speed the catboat flew on and on.
Although her sail was patched, and she was shabby-looking in the
extreme, the _Coquette_ showed her heels that day to many handsomer
craft.

The various boats raced with each other--first one ahead, and then
another. There were not many important changes in the positions of the
contesting boats, however, until the stake-boat was reached.

But Number Sixteen passed Thirteen, Fifteen, and Twelve for good and
all, before five miles of the course were sailed. The _Coquette_,
when once she had dropped an opponent behind, never was caught by it.

Wyn was on the _qui vive_ every moment. She sprang to obey Captain
Polly's commands, and the latter certainly knew how to sail a catboat.
She never let an advantage slip. She tacked at just the right time. Yet
she sailed very little off the straight course.

The motor boats and steamboats came hooting after the racing catboats
that their passengers might have a good view of the contest. These
outside boats were a deal of a nuisance, and two of the tail-enders in
the race dropped out entirely because of the closeness of the pleasure
boats' pursuit.

[Illustration: THE _COQUETTE_ SHOT OVER THE COURSE, LIKE A GREAT
SWOOPING BIRD. _Page 212._]
"But they couldn't win anyway," Polly confided to Wynifred. "Get a
bucket of water, dear. Dip it right up. That's right! Now throw it on
the sail. Another! Another! It will hold the wind better if it is wet."

"What a scheme!" cried Wyn. "Oh, Polly! I wish you lived in Denton and
went to our school and belonged to the Go-Ahead Club."

But Polly only shook her head. That was beyond the reach of possibility
for her, she believed. But she thanked Wyn for suggesting it.

Neither girl let her attention to the