[Cover Illustration] [Illustration: In the Toils of the Dreaded Race At the imminent risk of being either jerked or washed overboard Brandon fought his way for’ard hanging on desperately as he battled towards his goal. Then hanging on with his left hand he succeeded in casting off the rope that held the “Kestrel” to the “Merlin.”] T H E S E A S C O U T S OF T H E _ K E S T R E L _ The Story of a Cruise of Adventure & Pluck in a Small Yacht on the English Channel _By_ PERCY F. WESTERMAN Author of “Clipped Wings,” “Sea Scouts Abroad,” “The Sea Monarch,” “Under the White Ensign,” _&c. &c._ _With Coloured Illustrations_ London Seeley, Service & Co. Limited 196 Shaftesbury Avenue Printed in Great Britain at _The Mayflower Press, Plymouth_. William Brendon & Son, Ltd. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE Knocked Out 17 CHAPTER II The Mascot 28 CHAPTER III An All-night Watch 36 CHAPTER IV Investigations 44 CHAPTER V Adrift 51 CHAPTER VI In the Fog 57 CHAPTER VII The Derelict 70 CHAPTER VIII The Man they Rescued 79 CHAPTER IX What Marner Revealed 87 CHAPTER X Blueskin’s Plot 96 CHAPTER XI How it Failed 101 CHAPTER XII Out of Action 111 CHAPTER XIII The Stowaway 117 CHAPTER XIV The Peril of the Race 130 CHAPTER XV “To be Returned in Due Course” 142 CHAPTER XVI The “Kestrel” to the Rescue 150