en
burned up, when some of those tramps, they say, tried to set things on
fire," a second girl broke out with; which remark appeared to amuse
Semi-Colon very much, for he roared through his megaphone the word:

"Tramps! Ha! Ha!"

Evidently, while officially it had been decided to keep secret the
facts connected with the finding of the bottle of kerosene and the
rags, at the time Conrad Jimmerson was caught in Colon's trap, enough
had leaked out among the boys connected with Riverport school to give
them a pretty fair idea Buck must have been the leading spirit behind
the miserable game.

"Silence there! the referee wants you to keep still while he says
something to the crews!" roared a heavy voice through a megaphone.

"He's going to advise 'em what not to do," broke out Semi-Colon, for
the benefit of the girls; "and that a willful foul with carry a
penalty. There goes Coach Shays in that little launch; he's going to
get in that car belonging to Judge Colon, and be whirled along the
road, which keeps pretty near the river all the way. So you see, he can
every little while shout out his directions to the coxswain."

"There, the referee is talking to them now," said Flo Temple, plainly
excited, since the critical moment was at hand. "Oh! don't I just hope
our boys will leave them away behind right in the beginning! Because,
they say that the first one around the turning boat will have a big
advantage. Every second on the down-current will put yards between
them, that the second boat may never be able to make up."

"Brad Morton knows that, make up your mind, girls; and he won't let
those Mechanicsburg fellows turn first, if he can help it," Semi-Colon
advised.

"That's it, if he can help it!" mocked a girl near by, who was boldly
waving the banner of the up-river town right in the stronghold of the
rival school.

"Watch, they're going to start!" cried Cissy Anderson, shrilly.

Every sound seemed to cease like magic, as doubtless thousands of eager
eyes saw that the decisive moment was at hand.

Then suddenly there came the sharp report of a pistol, which they all
knew was to be the signal that would send those two boats forward with
all the power that sixteen pairs of trained and muscular arms could
bring to bear in exact unison!

Immediately a roar arose.

CHAPTER XXIV

A GREAT VICTORY

"They're off!"

"Mechanicsburg leads!"

"Yes, she does, smarty; better look again! They're tied, neck and