The Delawarean., 1900-12-22

OMcs tWOs luIte
But the other crews were pulling
their hardest, and between strokes
Bruce could hear the voices of their
cockswains as they. too. counted tens.
At the end the three were still even,
and the question seemed to be one of
endurance The "old man" in the
launch behind was shouting encourage
ment to the freshmen. for their burst
Of speed surprised and delighted him.
"Go 1t, freshmen he called.
And go it, they did. His words put
them on their mettle. and again the
boat quivered as eight broad backs
heaved simultaneously. Inch by inch
and stroke by stroke they crept ahead.
Again Bruce glanced at the other
crews and saw the varsity stroke la
boring desperately to make up what
had been lost, and farther back he saw
the sophomore crew now permanently
in third place. A great sob of Joy
shook him; then his eyes went back to
that bright patch of water, and his oar
blade bit more flercely as it struck the
surface of the lake. The little cock
swain was fairly beside himself. He
shouted aloud in his joy
TITS half over, boys he cried as
they flashed by the old windmill on the
shore. Just keep it up. and we've got
'em dead. e-stroke-stroker
Yes. but could they keep it up? Al
ready Bruces wrists were beginning to
grow numb, and his legs shook on the
slow recover.
And still mile to go!
His heart thumped and pounded. and
the hot breath came gasping through
his open lips He could hear No. Z
groan at every stroke, but there was
no thought of quitting. Death rather
than that.
"But will we never reach the half
mile?" he wondered.
Even as the thought entered his head
the cockswain called:
only half a mile more. and we're
length ahead"
Oh, luckless boat. Scarcely had the
words left his lips when No. caught
crab. The starboard side of the shell
sank almost to the waters edge as the
unfortunate oarsman tried to drag his
blade out by main force. At once the
speed was checked. and the other boats
drew up rapidly. But Bruce kept his
head and never let the stroke vary a
fraction of second. The cockswan.
too, remained cool. His calm voice in
this moment of CONSERVATION reas-
sured the rOwers. who quickly re-
sponded to his monotonous stroke
stroke stroke" as Bruce's blade caught
the water In a moment all were row
ing again as evenly as before the acct
dent. but the varsity was almost
abreast of them. The danger of defeat
after victory had seemed so sure made
the freshmen almost mad They tug
ged at the sweeps as if they would
break them in twain. Men animated
by such a spirit could not be beaten.
and soon they were forging to the
front again. AS they entered on the
last quarter mile they were more than
half length to the good and still gain
ing slowly. But the strain was begin
ming to tell. Bruce's arms were numb
to the elbows, his breath came in quick
pants and haze seemed to have set
tied over him which dulled the pain in
his aching muscles, but made his work
only mechanical Forward ana hack
ward, forward and backward. his body
swayed, while the shrill voice of the
cockswain sounded faint and far away.
IF | could only stop for an instant"
he thought only a stroke" And then
he fell to thinking Of what he would
give if he could rest for one stroke
So, yes, $40, even a week from his sum-
mer vacation, and he dreamed of how
he would lie on Th& cool grass under
the trees during that vacation. too
blissfully lazy to fnove-and all the
while his weary body swayed back
ward and forward. backward and for
ward without ceasing. He was arous-
ed by that strident voice. now grown
strangely hoarse. How he hated it! 1t
was shouting:
only hundred yards more fellows |
Now give her ten-one, two, three
And as the tired crew responded to
the appeal their light boat again leaped |
forward. When the ten was over. there |
was open water between them and the |
varsity. while the sophomorcs had |
dropped four lengths behind. Still that |
little torment in the stern was not sat |
isfed.
I'm going to count till we cross the
line" he announced, and then began |
those terrible numbers once more:
"One, two. three. four But with
''23'' he stopped and then called:
let her rum
Thank God. it was over, Eight pairs
of weary hands dropped the oars at |
which they had been tugging over
those two long miles. and eight weary |
bodies slouched down into their seats,
too tired to sit erect.
Bruce leaned over the gunwale and |
plunged his arms into the cold. clear
water. Perfectly content was he as. |
flied with the joy of triumph. he gazed |
over the fast darkening bosom Of the |
lake and up the hill to where, here and |
there. light already twinkled on the |
campus. And as he gazed softly. |
SWeetly, from the tower the chimes |