Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1910-07-02

scsons of the Wild cheering and wav.
Ing II una! be- that we all somewhat
relaxed AZ this time. 81 any rate. our
opponents. having turned the stake
boat behind rs. made spurt and over
hauled W., Then dawn ngnln we got
10 work and had gained three lengths
quite enough considering there was
bnt quarter Of mile remaining 10
give us the race. when
The narrator stopped. u pallor came
over his face. and he gasped Several
Of us started toward him. but he waved
us back
something In me gave way. | fell
over into the arms Of No Z. Onr com
petiiurs shot by NJ and won the race"
! have never experienced such de
pressing. not to say thrilling. sensation
MS when the narrative ended While
the narrator was describing the race
II seemed rs II | could see The boats
dashine onward and hear the cheering
When be spoke OF the disaster some
how my Imagination pictured blood
spouiing from his mouth and nose
Not man among us but appeared to
be similarly shocked
Come" said one OF our number
'let's adjourn 10 the - and get some
supper"
Agreed cried the rest. glad TO
break the spell and eager for some.
thing to brace us after listening TO the
weird narrative.
We went out into the darkness. the
stranger with us. When we reached
the some one asked. where's Mr.
MIR StrokeY'
Don't know" replied one behind.
Il thought he was ahead with you fei.
lows"
Every one thought he was With some
one else.
Mr.. Stroke. rs we called him. had evi-
IDENTIFY taken advantage OF the dark
ness to steal away unobserved We
we're quite relieved at his doing so,
The effect of his story was. to say the
least. depressing. and we were glad to
get rid OF him We ordered some
supper and while waiting for It talked
about him. wondering who he could
have been aud what race II was that
he had lost for his crew Since he had
not given us his name. we did not feel
that we possessed sufficient data upon
which to make Inquiries.
As the season advanced we forgot
all about Mr. Stroke and bis story.
was much interested In the coming re-
gatta and the preparations for IL.
though | was not member OF the
university crew. Our college had been
doing bad work al boating for loug
period. In ten years think we had
beaten our principal adversary but
twice. This year we hoped for and ex-
pected better things. All went well
till the day OF the race. when one Of
the crew fell suddenly Ill aud could
not row. Unfortunately all the avail
able material had been utilized. There
were substitutes galore. but the man
who had dropped out was one of the
two most important men Of the crew.
TO put any Que IN his place would be
TO surely lose the race.
A few minutes before the crews
went out TO the water | asked about
the substitute and was told that q
freshman was to row. could not
learn how or why he had been chosen.
but. wishing TO have look at him.
went down on to the foat. The men
were getting into the boat. The sub
stitute's face was familiar to me. but
could not tell where | had seen him
Then suddenly il rushed upon me that
lie was the man we had called Mr
Stroke.
Had a freshman been smart enough
to sell us all out as a graduate OF ten
years standing with n marvellous story
Of which he was the central figure:
took position where ! could see
the race all tue way and had With me
powerful iieldglass Our crew took
the lead almost Immediately after tie
start. noticed when the crew got into
the boat the substitute took the place
of No. 6 All through the race could
see that, while he did not appear To be
making hcrculcan effort. he was do
Ing splendid work Our crew kept the
lead they had taken. gradually but
slowly drawing away from their com
petitors From n length 1t grew to Two
lengths. then three lengths. aud nj the
finish the race was won by tive aud 4
half lengths.
Never had we been beaten by such
odds. questioned the crew as to huw
II happened for our advcrsarles Ind
made better time than ever before. and
was told that II WIS al on account Of
the substitute. Every time he IN, his
oar III the water the boat seemed to
move forward whether The rest 81 the
crew exerted themselves or not
became Interested IN the freshman
substitute Determined 10 iiud cut
more about him. | made Inquiries liul
II was az the close OF the term. with