redder than the Reddest of Indians above his white shirt and tie,
grinned sympathetically as he busied himself over his duties with the
cauliflowers and potatoes. What had happened was this: the race was
right round the islands, without any mark-boats to round. There was a
very heavy sea running, and great breakers were washing over the
reefs. The other yachts all headed for the "gate," or opening in the
reefs, but the Guardsman, a keen hunting man, knowing that alone of
the competitors the old _Lady of the Isles_ had no "fin-keel,"
had determined to try and _jump the reef_. In spite of the
frantic protests of the black pilot, he headed straight for the reef,
and, watching his opportunity, put her fairly at it as a big sea swept
along, and got over without a scrape, thus gaining six miles. It was a
horribly risky proceeding, for had they bumped, the old yacht would
have gone to pieces, and the big sharks lie hungrily off the reefs.
The one chance for the broad-beamed old boat, with her small
sail-area, was a gale of wind, for here her wonderful qualities as a
sea-boat came in. I often sailed in races with the Guardsman in a
smaller modern boat, much to the detriment of my nervous system, for
he was incorrigible about taking risks, in which he was abetted by the
soldier-footman, a sporting youth who, being always given a pecuniary
interest in the races, was quite willing to take chances. The
Guardsman, as a hunting man, never seemed to realise that a yacht had
not the same jumping powers as a horse, and that a reef was a somewhat
formidable barrier to tackle.

Owing to Bermudian boats being so "wet," one always landed soaked to
the skin, and in any town but Hamilton, people would have stared at
seeing three drowned rats in white garments, clinging like tights,
making their dripping way home through the streets; but there it is
such an everyday occurrence that no one even turned their heads; and,