d, steady old Paulding might not be left
entirely out of the running. There were even broad hints that some
people were going to get the surprise of their lives when the great day
arrived. Paulding always had been a difficult crowd to beat, and would
never confess to defeat until the last word had been said.

It was the day just preceding that on which the athletic meet was slated
to be held. As before, luck seemed to dwell with Riverport, since the
drawing of lots decided that the tournament must be held on her grounds,
outside of town. And it seemed about right that this should be the case,
since Riverport lay between her two rivals on the Mohunk, one being
three, the other seven miles away.

Nothing else was talked of those days, after school, but the proposed
meet. On the field itself there gathered crowds of boys and girls who
hovered in groups while the various candidates went through their work;
and either praised, or criticised; for it is always easy to do the
latter.

So on this morning of the day preceding the great event, whenever boys
ran across each other on the street, it was always with questions
concerning the condition of those upon whom Riverport depended to win
the most points in the tournament. At no time in the past had the state
of health of these lads interested more than a very small portion of the
community. Now everybody heaved a sigh of satisfaction upon learning
that Colon was said to be in better trim than ever before in all his
life, or that Sid Wells, Fred Fenton and Bristles Carpenter were just
feeling "fine."

Whenever one of those who were expected to take part made his appearance
on the street he had a regular following, all hanging on every word he
spoke, "just as if he might be an oracle," as Bristles humorously
remarked.

"Wait till Sunday morning, and then see if some balloons haven't
busted," he went on to remark, as several fellows gathered around him
that bright autumn morning, when there had been a sharp tang of frost in
the air; "a lot of us will fail to score a beat, and then see how quick
they drop us. Some will even be cruel enough to say they always knew
that Bristles Carpenter was a big fake; and that when it came right down
to business he never was able to hold up his end; and they never could
see why the committee put him on the roll of would-be heroes."

"Sure! and the next day it rained!" called back little Semi-Colon, whose
size debarred him from taking any pa