Guilt of the Brass Thieves

  CHAPTER 11 _A QUESTION OF RULES_

  "Quick!" Sally cried, remaining at the tiller of the _Cat's Paw_. "Thelife preserver!"

  Finding one under the seat, Penny took careful aim and hurled it in ahigh arc over the span of water. The throw was nearly perfect and thelife preserver plopped heavily on the surface not two feet from thestruggling girl. But she was too panic-stricken to reach out and graspit.

  The river current carried the preserver downstream. Sally knew then thatto save the girl she must turn aside and abandon the race.

  "Coming about!" she called sharply to warn Penny of the swinging boom.

  Already beyond the girl, whose struggles were becoming weaker, theyturned and sailed directly toward her. Penny kicked off her shoes, andbefore Sally could protest, dived over the gunwale.

  A half dozen long strokes carried her directly behind the strugglinggirl. Hooking a hand beneath her chin, she pulled her into a firm, safehold, then towed her to the _Cat's Paw_ where Sally helped them bothaboard.

  Throughout the rescue, the other two children had clung to the overturnedcanoe. Sally saw that they were in no danger, for a motorboat from shorewas plowing swiftly to the rescue. Standing by until the two were takensafely aboard, she then glanced toward the fleet of racing boats.

  Nearly all of them had passed the _Cat's Paw_ and were well on their waytoward the second marker. The _Spindrift_ led the field.

  "We're out of the race," she said dismally.

  "No! Don't give up!" Penny pleaded. "You still may have a chance. Thisgirl is all right. I'll look after her while you sail."

  Sally remained unconvinced. "We couldn't possibly overtake Jack now."

  "But we do have a chance to come in among the five leaders! Then youwould be able to race in the finals. You wouldn't lose the lanterntrophy."

  Sparkle came into Sally's eyes again. Her lips drew into a tight,determined line.

  "All right, we'll keep on!" she decided. "But it will be nip and tuck towin even fifth place. See what you can do for our passenger."

  The girl who had been hauled aboard was not more than thirteen years old.Although conscious, she had swallowed considerable water and was dazedfrom the experience. As she began to stir, Penny knelt beside her.

  "Lie still," she said soothingly. "We'll have you at the dock soon."

  Stripping off her own jacket, Penny tucked it about the shivering child.

  "We're balanced badly," Sally commented, her eyes on the line of boatsfar ahead, "and overloaded too. It's foolish to try--"

  "No, it isn't!" Penny said firmly. "We're sailing great guns, Sally! Lookat the water boiling behind our rudder."

  Almost as if it were driven by a motor, the _Cat's Paw_ plowed throughthe waves, leaving a trail of foam and bubbles in her wake. Despite thehandicap of an extra passenger, the boat was gaining on the contestantsahead.

  "If only the course were longer!" Sally murmured, straining against thepull of the main sheet.

  They rounded the second marker only a few feet behind a group of bunchedboats. One by one they passed them until only seven remained ahead. Butwith the finish line close by, they could not seem to gain another inch.

  "We can't make it," Sally said, turning to gaze at the shore with itscrowd of excited spectators. "We're bound to finish seventh or eighth,out of the race."

  "We're still footing faster than the other boats," Penny observed. "Don'tgive up yet."

  A moment later, the crack of a revolver sounding over the water, told thegirls that the _Spindrift_ had crossed the finish line in first place.

  To add to Sally's difficulties, the rescued girl began to stir and rockthe boat. Each time she moved, the _Cat's Paw_ lost pace. Though theypassed the next two boats, they could not gain to any extent on the onewhich seemed destined to finish in fifth place.

  Sally had been right, Penny realized. Barring a miracle, the _Cat's Paw_could not be among the winners. Although they were slowly gaining, thefinish line was too close for them to overcome the lead of the remainingboats.

  And then the miracle occurred. The _Elf_, directly ahead, seemed tofalter and to turn slightly aside. The _Cat's Paw_ seized the chance andforged even.

  "Go to it, Sally!" her skipper, Tom Evans, a freckled youth, called. "Youbelong in the finals!"

  Then the girls understood and were grateful. Deliberately, the boy hadslowed his boat so that Sally might be among the winners.

  "It was a fine thing to do!" Sally whispered. "But how I hate to win insuch fashion!"

  "Tom Evans knew he had no chance in the finals," Penny said. "As he said,you belong there for you are one of the best sailors in the fleet."

  Sally crossed the finish line in fifth place, then sailed on to the dockby the clubhouse. As Penny leaped out to make the boat fast, willinghands assisted with the bedraggled passenger. The child was taken to theclubhouse for a change of clothes. Officials gathered about Penny andSally, congratulating them upon the race.

  "I didn't really win," the latter said, paying tribute to Tom Evans. "The_Elf_ deliberately turned aside to give me a chance to pass."

  Nearby, Jack Gandiss who had won the race, stood unnoticed. After awhilehe walked over to the dock where Sally and Penny were collecting theirbelongings.

  "That was a nice rescue," he said diffidently. "Of course it cost yousecond place, which was a pity."

  Sally cocked an eyebrow. "_Second_ place?" she repeated. "Well, I likethat!"

  "You never could have defeated the _Spindrift_."

  "No? Well, if my memory serves me right, the _Cat's Paw_ was leading whenI had to turn aside. Not that I wasn't glad to do it."

  "You may have been ahead, but I was coming up fast. I would haveovertaken you at the second marker or sooner."

  "Children! Children!" interposed Penny as she neatly folded a sail andslipped it into a snowy white cover. "Must you always claw at eachother?"

  "Why, we aren't fighting," Sally denied with a grin.

  "Heck, no!" Jack agreed. He started away, then turned and came back. "Bythe way, Sally. How about the trophy?"

  Sally did not understand what he meant.

  "I won the race, so doesn't the brass lantern belong to me?" Jack pursuedthe subject.

  "Well, it will if you win the final next week."

  "That's in the bag."

  "Like fun it is!" Sally said indignantly. "Jack, I hate to crush thosedelicate feelings of yours, but you're due for the worst defeat of yourlife!"

  The argument might have started anew, but Jack reverted to the matter ofthe lantern trophy.

  "I'm the winner now, and it should be turned over to me," he insisted.

  Sally became annoyed. "That's not according to the rules of thecompetition," she returned. "The regulations governing the race say thatthe _final_ winner is entitled to keep the trophy. I was last year'swinner. The one this season hasn't yet been determined."

  "It's not safe to keep the lantern aboard the _River Queen_."

  "Don't be silly! There couldn't be a safer place! Pop and I chained thetrophy to a beam. It can't be removed without cutting the chain."

  "Someone could take the trophy by unlocking the padlock."

  "Oh, no, they couldn't," Sally grinned provokingly. "You see, I'vealready lost the key. The only way that lantern can be removed is bycutting the chain."

  Jack was enraged. "You've lost the key?" he demanded. "If that isn't thelast straw!"

  Hanson Brown, chairman of the racing committee, chanced to be passing,and Jack impulsively hailed him. To the chagrin of the girls, he askedfor a ruling on the matter of the trophy's possession.

  "Why, I don't recall that such a question ever came up before," theofficial replied. "My judgment is that Miss Barker has a right to retainthe trophy until the final race."

  "Ha!" chuckled Sally, enjoying Jack's discomfiture. "How do you likethat?"

  Jack turned to leave. But he could not refrain from
one parting shot."All right," he said, "you get to keep the trophy, but mind--if anythingshould happen to it--you alone will be responsible!"