I did it as a dare. It was a dare from myself to myself， the<br >most dangerous kind and the hardest to turn down.<br > Hal at Chicago Today had said， "Cat， we want a piece on<br >how the other half lives."<br > "Great. What are you paying?"<br > He named a figure that was okay， if not princely， and I<br >thought hanging around in penthouses or first-class restau-<br >rants or whatever he had in mind at his expense wouldn t<br >exactly be hard duty. Plus， he was talking Sunday section<br >with color pictures. When you re a freelance， starvation is<br >always approximately two articles away. I figured， sure， I m<br >a professional. I said so.<br > He said， "Fine. This guy Honeywell s a friend of one of<br >our stockholders. Nice yacht. Very nice. You won t be on<br >the Chicago to Mackinac， that s later anyway. We ll use this<br >the Sunday before the race."<br > "What race?"<br > "Chicago to Mackinac. On Lake Michigan. The major<br >league race of the summer. Have you been paying attention，<br >Catherine?"<br > "Race. Yes. You mean the--"<br > "Yacht. Water. Sail. That kind of thing."<br > He didn t know that he was driving nails into my coffin.<br >Calmly， I said， "Oh?"<br > "You ll go on the Fourth of July weekend on the boat that<br >won last year. There ll be eight or ten of the very rich<br >