The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-07

was real, but the shining water. the waving
iags, the silent people were all parts Of a
picture Of q scene, not the scene itself.
And then l heard a queer noise like the
sound Of the wind in distant trees before
the storm breaks. II came from beyond
that fascinating bend in the river. What
was II?
1t was the sound Of cheering. My COM
patriots were cheering American cheers.
II must be that.
One Of the Westerners had q field glass
and suddenly he said. Here they comet
And then l saw two moving shuttles in the
water far away inc the cheering cam
nearer and nearer and increased in volume
and proportion. One OF the shuttles was
ahead and l knew it was Harvard and fell
to cheering myself. forgot for the moment
all about the English around me. Ny one
desire was do the best American cheering
that my lungs and throat could compass.
was s~ubconscious that everybody around
me was cheering and my heart warmed
to the English under defeat.
Suddenly. like a blow between the eyes. I
heard one Of the Westerners say, Cam
bridge leads
l borrowed his glass and looking through
~ 4 AOthtCu, Juob an III DOtlCcb u Odu byHR-
ton in the disease Of a loved one, that the
blades Of the oars in the lead were a light
blue and my heart sank. Had our boys
come 5000 miles for nothing2 No, they had
come 5000 miles to make a good fight with
redoubtable antagonists and they were
making it. ,
But still it did not seem like a real thing,
the cheers or the sight OF the tiny shells
IN that ~uakor NJ "a Al A. .-~.l
they were making, both crews, was out of
all proportion to the size Of the river. Why
the tugs Inc steamers that followed were
going at a tremendous and noisy pace and
yet they did not gain on those two quiet
crews. 1t all seemed like a dream.
The shouting Rnd the tumult died out.
1t increased in power and the Cambridge
men swept inevitably past with the Har-
yard men, doomed from the first stroke
TO defeat, rowing tremendously two lengths
b~ehind-only two lengths IN a fast four
mile race-and my throat gave me notice
that it was being Overworked and that
anyway cheering would do no good now.
And then the rival crews grew smaller,
and smaller, and smaller and finally disap-
peared around another BEND in the river and
a few minutes later pandemonium reigned
among the phlegmatic English. Ando on tho
flagstaff in the middle Of Barnes Bridge
two flags were flying. the lower one being a
familiar white H on a crimson field. but the
flag at the top, being light blue, in token that
English Cambridge had defeated American
Cambridge.
And now the Englishman next me turned
and grasped my hand in a good, warm,
hearty handclasp and said:
Never mind, my boy. 1t was a good
race. Better luck next time"
And l thanked him, hardly knowing
what l said, and babe good-by to my new
found friends and jumped from the cart,
actually as sorry as If 1 had been a Har-
ward man, or especially interested in ath-
letios-or bad money on the race.
/ continued TO wear the Harvard colors-
in memory Of the defeated-and more than
once an Englishman stepped up 70 me and
said words Of right good sport. One said:
Never mind, bring EN- over next year and
let's ave another try quite as il l could
bring it about.
And, as part Of the good natured English
crowd, Imade my slow way back along the
towpatht to Hammersmith Bridge; and hear
ing the remarks that were made; | decided
that l quite knew how the English would
have acted had Harvard won the race.
And l felt that the bonds between Eng
land and America had been siren gthened
by the four mile struggle on tho silver
waters Of the Thames.