The Point fell farther and farther away and grew indistinct in the sunlit haze. The racers had formed into two broken lines, the _Amy_ still holding the lead, with the _Scrapper_ and the _Gnome_ striving to nose her out of it. Suddenly the sun went down, throwing a last intense ray across the water, and the blue twilight descended. The lantern at the top of the lighthouse on Baker’s Island bade good night to the speeding boats, and wished them safe voyage. The whistling had long since ceased, and nothing was to be heard now aboard the _Vagabond_ but the chugging of the boats ahead and an occasional hail from some one of the following craft. The _Vagabond_ was by no means the only boat in pursuit. Launches little and big were trying to keep up in order to get a last view of the contest. But one by one they dropped astern, turned and headed homeward. The twilight deepened, but the boys on the _Vagabond_ paid little heed, for they had passed two of the racers, and were gaining on a third. “Say, maybe we’re not going some!” cried Tom delightedly. “Twelve miles and over,” answered Nelson with satisfaction. “Bet you we’ll pass that one there inside of five minutes,” crowed Tom. “Gee! I wish we were in the race!” “Looks as though we were,” said Bob with a smile. “There’s the _Sue_ ahead there. She’s going along in great shape, isn’t she? If she wasn’t so small, I’d be willing to bet she’d win out.” “Wouldn’t be surprised,” answered Nelson. “She’s got a whole lot of handicap allowance to help. And even if she is small, she’s certainly keeping her end up with some of the others. How about that dinner you were going to cook, Tommy?” “Just wait till we pass the next one,” begged Tom excitedly. “I love to see the way the fellows look at us when we go by.” “They’re probably wondering what we’re butting in for,” said Nelson laughingly. “I’d rather like to know myself!” “Just to show them what a real boat looks like,” suggested Bob. “Could we keep up this pace all the way?” Nelson shook his head. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t like to try. We’d probably overheat something, and get in a fix. No; if we were going clear through with the bunch, I’d stop her down to about eight or nine miles and see what would happen.” “Let’s do it!” cried Dan. The others looked expectantly at Nelson. He shook his head again. “It wouldn’t be safe, fellows,” he answered. “It’s all right now, but we might meet a whole lot of nasty water outside the Cape.” “What Cape?” asked Tom. “Cape Cod.” “Oh! do we have to go by there?” he asked in surprise. Whereupon there was a laugh at Tom’s knowledge of geography. They were pulling abreast of the next launch now, and her red side-light shone brightly through the gathering dusk. “Now, Tommy, you can start your fire,” said Dan. “We’re up to them and passing. Hello! that chap’s going to hail us.” “Hello, the launch!” came a voice through a megaphone. Nelson picked up his own megaphone and answered the hail.