“Can’t we catch up over that distance?” asked Jacob Farnum.

“Not now, anyway, sir.”

Jack went back beside the wheel.  Somehow, he did not feel like taking the spokes into his own hands.  Instead, he wheeled, silently, going back, through the conning tower, and down to the engine room.

“How do we stand with the Rhinds craft?” asked David Pollard, who sat on one of the cushioned seats in the engine room.

“Half a mile behind, sir.”

Pollard got up slowly, then went through and up the stairs to the deck.

For some moments Hal and Jack talked together, in low tones.  Both looked rather glum, until Hal suggested something that sent a little ray of hope into Benson’s eyes.

“We’ll see,” muttered the young captain.  “It looks like a forlorn hope, though, Hal.”

At the end of the third hour the “Zelda” had added another quarter mile to the lead, while the “Oakland” showing the way, was a good mile ahead of the foremost racer.

When four hours had gone by the Rhinds boat was discovered to be just about a mile ahead of her nearest competitor.  The Seawold boat, third in line, was half a mile behind the “Benson,” and the Blackson boat, last of all, was two miles behind the Pollard boat’s stern.  But Jack and his friends had long ago ceased to feel any interest in the tail-enders.

The race was to be over at five o’clock.  At half-past three, or four hours and a half after the start, Jack found, by the help of the rangefinder, that the Rhinds boat led by a mile and an eighth.

“Keep the wheel, Eph!” called the Young commander.  “Steer as straight as you can.  I’ll be up soon.”

Then Jack Benson darted below, though his legs trembled a bit under him.

“All ready, Hal!” shouted the youthful commander.  “Play our one trump card, and play it as hard as you can!  Though I’m afraid Rhinds has just such a card in his own pack.”

Then up to the platform deck hastened Jack Benson.  He moved quietly to the wheel, taking it from Eph.  The young captain did not propose to leave again until the race was over.

Soon after this something happened that must have made those aboard the Rhinds boat feel uneasy.  The “Benson” began to crawl up on the “Zelda.”

“What are you doing now, Jack?” called Jacob Farnum sharply, as he and Pollard moved forward to stand by the young captain.

“I’ll tell you, in a few minutes, if our move seems to be any good, sir,” Jack answered.

By four o’clock half the space between the Rhinds boat and the Pollard craft had been covered.  By this time two men were observed aft on the “Zelda,” their gaze turned steadily on the “Benson.”

“Take the wheel for two or three minutes, Eph,” begged the young captain, on whom the strain was beginning to tell.

Then, turning to his employers, Jack went on: