f them, with Colson's at the Head. Both were strong crews, and so was
Johnson's, just behind--too strong, indeed, for Durend to feel very
comfortable with an unknown quantity at his back.

The race was timed to start at eleven, and a minute or two before the
hour all the crews had taken up their position, stripped and made ready.
The crews were too far apart for signals by word of mouth or by pistol
to be effective, so a gun was fired from the bank--one discharge "Get
ready!" two "Off!" and three--after a lapse of ten minutes--as the
"Finish".

"Boom!" went the first gun, and men ceased trying their stretchers or
signalling to their friends on shore. A few words of caution from the
stroke, and then all was still in tense expectation. The mooring-ropes
were slipped, and the boats left free to move slowly forward with the
stream.

"Boom!" Simultaneously forty-eight oars dipped and churned the water
into foam. Like hounds suddenly unleashed, the six boats leapt forward
and began their desperate chase upon the waters of the Suir.

The strongest point of Benson's crew had been its lightning start, and
Durend had always counted upon this giving him at least half a length's
advantage at the outset. Striking the water at his usual rate, he
hoped--almost against hope--that this advantage still remained to him.
Less than half a dozen strokes, however, were sufficient to convince him
that the hope was a vain one. The perfect swing of the boat was marred
by a jar that became more pronounced with every stroke. He knew well
enough what it was: it was the new half-trained man, Franklin, vainly
trying to keep up the pace of a trained crew.

It was a bitter disappointment, but Durend was not one to let such
feelings cloud his judgment, and without a moment's hesitation he let
his racing start fall away into a long, steady swing. Victory--for the
moment, at any rate--must be left to others, while his crew were brought
back once more to the swing and rhythm they had lost.

For some time Durend kept his stroke long and steady, and the boat
travelled evenly and well, though at no great pace. By that time
Cradock's, in front, were almost lost to sight, but Johnson's, behind,
were very much within view, and coming up fast. The situation seemed so
critical that Dale at last could contain himself no longer. For some
minutes he had been nervously glancing back at the nose of the boat
creeping up behind, and wondering when he must forsake h