A Regatta.--The "Waterlog's" Victory.
The waters of the broad once more blazed beneath the summer sun. The
_Swan_ lay at anchor in a reedy bay, and the three boys were sitting on
deck, busily engaged in discussing some project which seemed to interest
them very much.
For some years past a large yacht had been a prominent object on the
Norfolk and Suffolk waters, not on account of her speed or her beauty,
but because of her great ugliness of form, and her exceeding slowness of
sailing. Cram on as much sail as you could, and yet the clumsiest wherry
could beat her in sailing. Her owner entered her for many a race, and
she was invariably so badly beaten that she became a laughing-stock. Her
name was the _Waterlily_, but she was facetiously christened and
universally called the "Waterlog." Her end was tragic. One time when the
waters were very high after great floods, her owner sailed her into a
small broad, and, not taking her off in time, the waters fell, and there
was not depth enough to float her out, and she became fixed in a trap,
out of which she could not be removed. She was offered for sale, but no
one would buy her; so her owner, in a fit of disgust, first dismantled
her and then set fire to her, and so she perished. Her nickname survived
her, however, and, to the great indignation of the boys, descended upon
the _Swan_, whose stiff and stately motion and peculiar appearance had
made her the mark for it.
They were now holding an "indignation meeting" upon the subject, and a
way had just been mooted by which they hoped to sustain the dignity of
their boat.
"Wroxham Regatta is on the 20th of next month," said Frank, "and there
is a race open to all classes of yachts except the winners of the
previous races. Those will clear off the crack ships, and I don't think
we need fear any of the others. I vote we enter the _Swan_ for it, and
show them how she can sail. The prize is a very handsome cup."
"Do you really think she will have any chance, Frank?" asked Jimmy.
"Not with her present rig; but we will add a big top-sail to both
main-sail and mizen. Her double shape will enable her to stand any
amount of sail, and if we have a good side wind and plenty of it we
shall stand a very good chance."
So it was decided that the yacht should be entered for the race, and
they set to work to prepare two immense yards and top-sails, and to
practise sailing the yacht with them up. Mary Merivale and Edith Rose
were invited to be on board during the race; the elders were to be
present on board a friend's yacht to witness the regatta.
The day of the regatta arrived, and a strong north-wester was raising
mimic waves on the broad. The boys had taken the yacht overnight to
Wroxham, and in the morning they met Mary and Edith at Wroxham Bridge,
and took them on board.
"Is it not dreadfully windy?" asked Edith Rose, as the wind blew her
curls back from her pretty face.
"It is just what we want, Miss Rose," answered Frank.
"Wouldn't it be safer if we were not to be on board during the race? I
am afraid you are going to be too venturesome. I heard you were going to
put some more sails up, and I am sure these are large enough," said
Edith.
"Pray don't desert us now," said Frank, so piteously, that Edith made no
more objection for fear of vexing him.
Over the fence of tall reeds which now separated them from the broad
they could see scores of white sails and gay pennants, and it was
evident that there was a large assemblage.
"Why, Frank," said Mary, "I declare you are quite nervous; I can feel
your arm tremble."
Frank indignantly repelled the accusation, but Jimmy, who was sitting on
the roof of the cabin kicking his heels, said:--
"I am awfully, miserably nervous, and I believe we are going to make a
tremendous mull of it, and we've done all we can to make ourselves
conspicuous."
They had entered the yacht, out of a spirit of bravado, under the name
of "The Waterlog," and they had painted the name on slips of stout
paper, and tacked it over the legitimate name of their yacht.
"Nonsense!" was Frank's somewhat angry commentary on Jimmy's speech.
They now entered the broad, which presented a lively scene. Yachts of
all rigs and sizes were skimming about, with gunwales under, to the
stiff breeze. When the signal for the first race was given, those yachts
not engaged in it came to an anchor, and the _Swan_, on whom all eyes
were turned, took up her station next to the yacht in which were Mr.
Merivale and his friends.
The wind continued to freshen and grow more gusty, so that of those
yachts which started with their top-sails, two had them carried away in
the first round, and the others had to take them down, and the yacht
which won had a single reef in her huge main-sail.
There were three races before the open race for which the _Swan_ was
entered under her assumed name. I have not space to dwell upon the
incidents of these, nor to dilate upon the glorious life and movement of
the broad, with its crowd of white sails, and its waves sparkling in the
sunlight. Three of the best yachts were, through being winners in the
races, prohibited from sailing in the open race, but there were
nevertheless a sufficient number of entries on the card of the races to
make our boys dubious as to the result of their somewhat bold
experiment. There were six named as to start. Two were lateeners, one a
schooner, two cutters, and the sixth was the "Waterlog."
The course was three times round the lake, outside of certain
mark-boats; and, as the wind blew, the yachts would catch it abeam for
two-thirds the course, dead aft for a sixth, and dead ahead for the
remainder. As Frank said, it was a wind in every respect suitable for
the raft-like _Swan_.
The race excited a great amount of interest. The _Swan_ was now well
known to all the yachtsmen, and her change of name provoked curiosity
and interest, and as the signal came for the yachts to take their
station all eyes were upon the "Waterlog" (as we will call her during
the race). As the boys ran up her sails and sailed away to the
starting-point, a decided manifestation of admiration arose as the great
top-sails slowly ascended under the strenuous efforts of Dick and Jimmy.
As they fluttered in the wind, Mary threw all her little weight on to
the halyard to assist in hauling them tight and flat.
Mary and Edith took up their places in the bows, where they were out of
the way, as there is no jib in a lugger rig.
"Now, Dick," whispered Frank, "if any accident _should_ happen--although
it isn't likely--do you see to Mary, and I'll take Edith."
"All right, old man."
The yachts started from slip anchors, with the canvas set; and at the
flash of the starting-gun, sheets were hauled in, and the six yachts
which came to the starting-point bounded away almost simultaneously, the
white water flashing away from their bows, and boiling and eddying in
their wake. The wind was now blowing very fresh indeed, the other yachts
were not only gunwales under, but the water swept all over the leeward
half of their decks, and even the "Waterlog," in spite of the width of
her beam and double shape, had her leeward pontoon completely submerged.
On they surged, the two girls clinging to the forestay, heedless of wet
feet, and breathless with the swift excitement: Frank firmly grasping
the tiller, his teeth set and his blue eyes gleaming; Dick at the
main-sheet, and Jimmy standing on the counter with the mizen-sheet in
his grasp, both watching their captain, to be instant at his commands.
The first round was quickly over, and then the position of the competing
yachts was this:--The schooner was ahead, then at a little distance came
the "Waterlog," and close behind her the rest of the yachts in a body.
As they passed Mr. Merivale he cried out, "Well done, boys! you'll get
a good place."
Next they passed a small boat, in which they saw Bell, who
shouted,--"Haul in your sheets a bit more,--your top-sails will hold
more wind."
Frank saw the wisdom of this advice, and as he followed it, the
"Waterlog" shot forward and gained a little upon the schooner.
"If the wind were to freshen a little we should come in second," said
Frank.
But as they commenced the third round the wind dropped most
unexpectedly. The schooner in front rose nearer the perpendicular and
her speed increased; the "Waterlog" fell back, and a large lateener
behind fast overhauled her.
"How dreadfully annoying," said Frank; and he hated that lateener with a
very vigorous hate. They passed Bell's boat again, and the old man
shouted--
"Look out, Master Frank, a squall will be on you in a minute."
The sudden lull was but the precursor of a tremendously violent gust. As
the yachts were beating up to round the last mark-boat before getting a
straight run in to the goal, the boys saw the trees on the land bow
their heads with a sudden jerk, and then the squall was upon them. It
did not affect them so much when they were close hauled, but as the
leading schooner rounded the boat and presented her broadside to the
wind there was a great crash, and her cloud of white canvas descended
upon the water. Her foremast had broken close by the deck, and in
falling had snapped the remaining mast half way up, and she lay like a
log on the water. The lateener, close upon her heels, heeled over so
much, that she began to fill through the hatchway, and to save her from
an upset her sheets were let go, and with her sails wildly fluttering
she drifted on to the disabled wreck. All this was the work of a few
seconds, but there was time for Frank to unloose the halyards of the
top-sails, which were purposely made fast just in front of him, and to
give a warning shout of "heads!" and then, to the great alarm of the
girls, the sails came clattering down to leeward, and they rounded the
boat in safety, though cannoning violently against the wreck as they did
so. And now they were _first_! The cutter next behind them, in shooting
up into the wind to save herself, lost way, and was no longer a
dangerous enemy, and although the other yachts rounded the boat, yet
they were far astern, and the victory of the "Waterlog" was secure. At a
word from Frank the two girls, one on each side, stripped off the
assumed name, and let the papers float away on the wind, and, amid
vociferous cheering and clapping of hands and waving of handkerchiefs,
the _Swan_ shot past the winning-post, and so gained the prize.
Although gained partly by accident it was a great triumph for the boys,
and the girls were quite as proud and delighted as they were.
"You are a dear good boy, and I'll give you a kiss," said merry Mary
Merivale to her brother, "although you would rather have one from
somebody else than from me, I know."
"I say, Molly, I wish you'd get her to give me one."
"You will have to wait a very long time for that, Mr. Frank."
"If you would give Dick one, she would give me one."
"That's all you know about it, sir," said Mary, making him a saucy
curtsey.