ne ‘By a QO ; Z9 Sours oo G } heows West asl Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1896, by Street & Smith, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. Entered as Second-class Matter at the New York, N.Y., STREET & SMITH, Publishers, £9 Rose Street, New York. 13. | } } I} 4 AS THE WHITE YACHT DARTED UP UNDER THE PHANTOM’S LEE QUARTER, JACK SPRANG INTO THE STANDING ROOM OF THE BLACK CRAFT, * New York, July 4, 1996 "ig Post-Office. Subscription Price, 2.560 per Year. OR, JACK SEABROOKE’S RUN OF LUCK. G. CLAY. BY HORACE [KING OF BIKE AND BAT’ was commenced last week.] | Goop News bicycle contest. When Jack re- turns with the mailhe finds that old Grice has two very suspicious-looking guests, named Garcia and Darkeye, who evidently have some hold over the postmaster. Mr. Grice, to the lad’s surprise, tells Jack that he can have that evening to himself. Jack, highly pleased, seeks out Archie, and the two go for a sail in the latter’s sloop yacht, the Fairy. They en- counter Colonel Wadley’s yacht, the Phantom, SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. In the town of Bayport, on Long Island, there are two rival schools—Doctor Hazard’s Academy and Colonel Wadley’s Institute. Jack Seabrooke, a poor boy in the employ of Peter Grice, the postmaster, is the leader of the one, and Dick Wadley, the colonel’s son, is the leader of the other. Archie Dutton, the son of a wealthy resident, is Jack’s great friend. At the station he tells Jack that a bicycling elub has been formed, and that he has been elected the treasurer. Jack has only a wretched bi- cycle, but he is trying for an “Outing” in the with a party on board. The latter boat is evi- dently being badly managed. As Jack and Arehie are watching her they suddenly dis- cover that a young lady has fallen overboard. 2 The next moment Jack takes a header into the | swiftly running waves. CHAPTER IV. IN WHICH DICK WADLEY IS AGGRESSIVE. “a ACK came up like a duck and struck dp} f out for thespot where he had seen the girl disappear. It was evideut the lad was an expert swimmer, for he cut the water like a fish. The unfortunate girl had come to the sur- face, but as the tide was setting out into the Sound, she was now some _ distance from the yachts but the water carried Jack along ‘at the same ratio, and his lusty strokes were fast lessening the distance when she went under again, her hat bob- bing away upon the surface. Jack put all his strength into his efforts to reach the girl in time, and he was within less than a yard.of the semi-conscious form when his eyes detected it. Another vigorous stroke and our hero was supporting the young lady, who he recog- nized as Miss Jessie Wadley, the colonel’s pretty daughter. He had reached her just in the nick of time, for as his arm encircled her, he felt the downward impetus the body was taking for the last time. Dashing the spray from his eyes as he supported the girl’s face above the surface and beginning to tread water, he perceived the Fairy, under the able hand of Mr. Cox, dashing down upon the spot like a race- horse, and now but a few yards off. The Phantom was still in a precarious predicament, her young master not having the presence of mind to jam his tiller hard down to bring the boom aboard so he could catch the mainsheet and regain control of the yacht. As the Fairy came up into the wind, her sails all of a shiver, Archie Dutton threw a life-preserver attached to a rope to Jack, who instantly grabbed the line with his dis- caer hand and was quickly pulled along- side. Archie hauled Miss Wadley over the side just as that young lady opened her eyes to the situation. Jack, dripping like a Newfoundland dog, grabbed the lee rigging and was on deck almost as soon as she. Vhe fair girl, after a gasp or two, recoy- ered herself rapidly, and in a few minutes showed that beyond her drenched condition, she was none the worse for her unexpected ducking. Mr. Cox, in the meanwhile, brought the Fairy about and laid her course for the rival yacht, which was floundering in the sea like a fish in a shallow puddle, taking considerable water into her standing room, and every moment adding to the discom- fort of her occupants, ‘“‘You’d better go into the cabin, Miss Wadley,’’ said Jack, politely, pulling the sliding panel open, ‘‘You’ll be chilled tothe bone out here, and you’ll find it quite cozy below.”’ ‘‘Yes, I will,’’ she said; ‘‘but I haven’t thanked you for saving my life. I am very, very grateful to you, Jack Seabrooke,’’ she continued, earnestly. ‘‘I know I should have been drowned but for your aid.’’ It is certainly nice to be thanked by a pretty girl for services rendered, and there’s no denying the fact that Jessie Wadley was a pretty girl, though she looked somewhat limp and at a disadvantage from her drenching. Jack blushed under the earnest gaze of the pair of bewitching eyes, and, us it seems to be usual in such situations, stammered like a boy making his first speech. t What he tried to say she easily under- stood, for she immediately objected to his putting such a light value upon his bravery. ‘You are a lero, Jack Seabrooke,’’ she said, impulsively, grasping both his hands in hers. ‘‘You’ve saved my life, and I shall never, never forget you as long as I live!’’ She gave him a luok that sent his chilled blood tingling through his veins, and then stooped and entered ‘the little cabin. Jack, much relieved by her retirement, shut the slide to, and faced the laughing features of his chum, like a boy who had just been caught napping at school. ‘*T’ve always told you that you were some pumpkins, Jack,’’ said Archie, slapping him on the back, ‘‘but now you’ve got it straight from the prettiest girl in Bayport, if she is the daughter of that old nabob, Colonel Wadley.’’ Jack was conscious that he was blushing to the roots of his hair. j ‘‘Belay, Archie,’’ said Mr, Cox, at this juncture, ‘‘don’t you see as how we’re close aboard o’ the yacht? When I put up the helm, Seabrooke, my lad, jump aboard 0’ her.”’ _ ‘All right, Tom,’’ responded our hero, with alacrity, running to the Fairy’s bow. As the white yacht darted up under the Phantom ’s lee quarter, Jack sprang into the standing room of the black craft, coming down on all fours as she rolled to star- board, He quickly grasped the tiller, but imme- diately realized that the boat, having no neadway on her could not be brought to the wind that way. Mr. Cox, of course, under- stood the situation. ‘‘Send one o’ those lubbers for’ard to catch a line,’’ he shouted. Jack directed Dick Wadley’s companion and particular érony, Joe Ruggles, who was evidently badly scared, to crawl forward, take the rope and give it a hitch around the stanchion near the bow. ‘*Hold on to the slack till we come around and then cast off,’’ said Jack. Ruggles, who was somewhat of a bully ashore, owing to his strength and a certain unevenness of temper, obeyed the order with becoming meekness. There’s nothing like taking a boy, or a man, for that matter, out of his element oc- casionally, in order to show him his weak- ness—it’s a good corrective for a bad habit. As soon as the boom swung inboard, Jack tecovered the stray sheet, and the boat being now under his control, she darted off in the Fairy’s wake like a frightened fawn. Practically the whole science of boatsail- ing (we refer to small fore-and-aft craft) depends upon the management of the main sheet. To insure safety, it should never be secured otherwise than by one turn around the cleat, the slack being held in the hand so as to be able to ease it off gradually as required, or cast it off altogether, The same result can be obtained with the rudder with- out slacking the sheet, by bringing the boat into the wind until the sail shakes. This gives more control of the boat than letting the boom out to the leeward, as is the method used by experienced boatmen; for the tyro, however, the first plan is the safer one. ‘“‘You’d better get a tin can, or some- thing, to bale this water out,’’ said Jack to Joe Ruggles, who had regained the standing room of the yacht. ‘‘Ts my sister safe??? said Dick Wadley, finding his tongue at last. His face was ghastly from anxiety. ‘‘Yes,’? said Jack, kindly, ‘‘she’s safe aboard the Fairy.”’ ‘*You pulled her out of the water, didn’t you??? ‘*Yes.”’ ‘¢1’m much obliged to you, Jack Sea- brooke,’’ he said, with a look of intense re- lief ‘‘When father comes back he’ll pay you well for what you did.’’ ‘s He’ll do what?’’ exclaimed Jack, aston- ished. ‘‘He’ll give you at least five hundred dol- lars—maybe a thousand. He can easily afford it.’? ‘‘T don’t take pay for such a service,’’ said our hero, indignantly. Dick Wadley looked amazed. ‘*You won’t take a thousand dollars if fright and -father offers it to you?’’ he said. ‘*No, I won’t.’’ ‘‘Tsn’t it enough?’’ “T told you that I’m not taking money for doing my duty,’’ said Jack, doggedly. ‘‘Why not? A thousand dollars is a good deal of money?’’ persisted the nabob’s son. ‘“T know it’s a good deal of money.’’ ‘¢And you’re poor, ain’t you?’’ ‘‘T’m not poor enough to sell my sense of respect.’’ ‘*You seem to be mighty proud,’’ said Dick, with a sneer. ‘‘T hope,not,’’ said Jack, in a softer tone, oat he knew Master Wadley’s disposition well. *