Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1867-04-26

comes Of Anthony 30 thCy We sos
stroke at last; wonder what he's like"
Bakers voice on the bank called rue to
my senses. Not so quick, stroke "
{" Keep your feather down." You're
missing the beginningi" and so on. at in
tervals, all the way down.
At lfiley we turned and began to row up,
Hallett and Baxter, not to be shaken OF,
kept up a raking fire from the bank. Put
yolr back into it. five" mind the time,
three" "Slowly forward two" Halo,
Wingfield, mind what you're about; look
ahead, steer in shore by Jove there'u be
a smash - Look ahead, said Wingheld,
suddenly jumping up in the utmost excite
ment. Easy, all Hold her y
In another second we felt a shock all
through the boat; there was a crash of
oars, and we were pitched head first into
the water.
"I-can't-swim," painted Wingield, as
he came to the surface, and, before | could
seize him, disappeared again. In few
seconds the small head rose once more, and
this time | managed to grasp the little man
by the collar, and, with some trouble, got
him astride of the boat, which lay bottom
upward on the water The rest had by
this time got ashore, and l now followed
them. leaving little Wingtield, by no means
sure of his scat ON the boat, the water
streaming from him on all sides, ami alto
gether looking the most comical picture
possible He was soon rescued by punt 4;
and then we all ran back TO our barge to
change our wet fiannels and keep the cold
off by nip Of brandy at the Boat House
Tavern.
well, Wingfeld, you made rather, a
mess of your steering Just now, said Hal
lett; you and the cox. of the other boat
both lost your heads"
Wingfeld looked very crest-fallen.
"Well. never mind" said Hallett; show
are you now?'
"Oh, all right, thank you. You see, l
can't swim, so was rather in funk at
| the time"
"Yes, anybody could see that, remarked
| Tip, who had enjoyed the whole thing
of the boat, you looked just like John Gill
pin when horse ran away"
al hate that fellow Tip" said Wingfield
TO me Immediately afterwards, don't you !?
No. of course you don't, you never hate
| anybody, why should you? It's only
small men who've reason to hate; they're
| obliged to do it in selfdefence. But, old
fellow, haven't thanked you yet for pull
ing me out of the watery grave; you may
be sure sha'n't forget it, and I'll pay you
back some day when | get the chance"
could tell by the tone of his voice that he
meant more than he said, and felt that
from that day the Ii tie Torpid" coxswain
was the firmest friend / had
As we walked up from the river, Baxter
said, Maynard, we've settled that you'll
do for the stroke, and the crew is to go
into training tomorrow. Breakfast in
Hallett's rooms tomorrow morning, and
mind everybody has good walk first.
Wingfeld, you'll have to see that
| all the crew are off TO bed by halfpast
| ten"
And so the business of training began,
and beef and mutten twice day was our
| food for nearly a month. l shall not now
enter into the details of that training; how
bow" was i'll or fancisd he was for three
DAYS, how We're was nearly turned out of
the boat for being out of bed at midnight !:
how Wilkinson turned sulky, and spread a
spirit of mutiny among the crew : and how
Hilton once ate buttered toast for break
fast, and caper sauce with his boiled NUT
ton, al which particulars however
momentous in the eyes of st. Anthony's
Torpid then. would doubtless be tedious to
the general reader. Suffice it to say, that
the first day of the races found us in excel
lent fettle and high spirits, and even Bax-
ter was fam to confess that we had
improved immensely In the last week, and
might make a bump or two. Does every
body know what is meant by bump J"
Very likely not. So, at the risk of being
considered bore, | shall take the liberty
to Captain.
The Torpid races are conducted in the
manner following. At the part of the
river where the start takes place number
of posts are placed along the bank 100 feet
apart, and by one Of these each boat takes
its station according to the order of the
previous year, the head boat being the
highest up the river, the second 100 feet
behind it and so ON to the last To each
post a rope is made fast, one end of which,
having large bung attached, is held by
the coxswain of the boat. When the
starting gun fires, the bunss are dropped,
and each boat starts in pursuit Of the one
before it. ANY boat overtaking another,
so as to touch any part of it, makes a
dump" Both boats Law out of the way
of those behind, and on the following day
the dumping boat takes its station
above the " bumped" and tries to over
take the next boat and so on through
the six days of the races. With this ex-
PLANTATION the reader will, trust understand
the particular races | am about to de-
scribe.
At two o'clock ON one Of those damp,
"muggy days, which are only too com
mon in Oxford, the ST. Anthony's crew,
clad in white flannel trimmed with the
college colors, walked down TO the barge
for their preliminary paddle" Flags
flying on all the barges, and the new uni
forms Of the various crews, made the scene
gay in spite of the sombre hue of the sky,
but the faces of the men anxious even to
paleness, showed that there was some seri-
Gus business on hand
Now, then, tumble in you fellows"
shouted Baxter; you'll want time
to breathe between the paddle and the
race"
That paddle did US a world of good in
keeping our thoughts off the coming race;
but when 1t was over, we had still q quar-
ter of an hour to wait before rowing down
TO the start. 1t was terribl quarter of an
hour for me, for being stroke of the boat,
felt as If the whole responsibility lay on
my shoulders, and as the minutes-hours
they seemed-went on, the deep red SPOT
in my cheek grew deeper and deeper. and
a sort of shuddering came over me, till my
teeth seemed to rattle in my head. We all
tried to laugh and chaf as usual, but it
was CHASTITY attempt, and we gave 1t up
by mutual consent.
"Time to start" sung out Tip at last,
and out we came to the boats side with
right good will Where's Number Two?
Ihas fellows always late; has anybody
seen him ?"
He was loafng down the hank five
minutes ago." said Hilton.
Then why the deuce didn't you bring
him back? You'll all be late at the start
| and have to row up in your coats"
Two or three men were dispatched to
find the missing one, but minute after min
ute went by, and he did not come. Hallett