Half way to Eastern Point on the beat home it seemed to occur to the skipper and to Clancy that the Johnnie Duncan stood a chance to win the race. It was Clancy, still lashed to the wheel, now with Long Steve, turned his head for just a second to Mr. Duncan and spoke the first word of it.
"Mr. Duncan, do you know, but the Johnnie's got a chance to win this race?"
"D'y'think so, Tommie--d'y'think so?"
Some of us in the crew had been thinking of that same thing some time, and we watched Mr. Duncan, who, with a life line about him, was clinging to a bitt aft, and watching things with tight lips, a drawn face and shiny eyes. We listened to hear what else he might have to say. But he didn't realize at once what it meant. His eyes and his mind were on the Lucy Foster.
"What d'y'think of the
