"Well, if that isn't something!" Jack said no more, but his tone had made it clear he considered Penny nothing short of a traitor.
The two boats presently sailed out from the protecting shores to join the other fifteen-footers which had entered the race. With the breeze blowing strong, the contestants tacked rapidly back and forth, jockeying for the best positions at the start of the contest.
Tensely Sally glanced at her wristwatch. "Five minutes until two," she observed. "The gun will go off any minute now."
Nineteen boats comprised the racing fleet, but in comparison to Jack and Sally, many of the youthful captains were mere novices. Experts were divided in opinion as to the winner, but nearly everyone agreed it would be either Jack or Sally, with the odds slightly in favor of the latter.
"There goes the signal!" cried Sally.
The boats made a bunched start with Cat's Paw and Spindrift in the best positions. In the sharp breeze, one of the craft carried away a stay, and with a broken mast, dropped out of the race. The others headed for the first marker.
At first Sally and Jack raced almost bow to bow, then gradually the Cat's Paw forged steadily ahead. Except for three or four boats, the others began to fall farther and farther behind.
"We'll win!" Penny cried jubilantly.
"It's too soon to crow yet," Sally warned. "While it looks as if this breeze will hold for the entire race, no one can tell. Anything might happen."
Penny glanced back at Jack's boat a good six to eight lengths behind. The boy deliberately turned his head, acting as if he did not see her.
The Cat's Paw hugged the marker as it made the turn at Hat Island. Rounding the body of land, the girls were annoyed to see a canoe with three children paddling directly across their course.
"Now how did they get out here?" Sally murmured with a worried frown. "They should know better!"
At first the children did not seem to realize that they were directly in the path of the racing boats. But as they saw the fleet rounding Hat Island in the wake of the Cat's Paw and the Spindrift, they suddenly became panic-stricken.
With frantic haste, they tried to get out of the way. In her confusion, one of the girls dropped a paddle, and as it floated away, she made a desperate lunge to recover it. Another of the occupants, heavy-set and awkward, leaned far over the same side in an attempt to help her.
"They'll upset if they aren't careful!" Penny groaned. "Yes, there they go!"
Even as she spoke, the canoe flipped over, tossing the three girls into the water. Two of them grasped the overturned craft and held on. The third, unable to swim, was too far away to reach the extended hand of her terrified companions.
Making inarticulate, strangled sounds in her throat, she frantically thrashed the water, trying desperately to save herself.
