Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-13
IAN HAY,
said Hughie. TOO many blues in the

boat
"Huw many"
-Four Seven, six. five and bow"
Good! They are probably laboring
under the delusion that boat with four
blues in 1t is four times as good as boa
with one blue in it. Consequently. they
haven't trained very hard. especially those
! two fat men in the middle OF the boat.
What about their stroke?"
| Pretty enough, but a rotter when 1t
comes to the pinch
! Good again! Well, these fellows have
| not once been extended during the races.
for you gave them no sort of run last
night. You went to bits at the start and
never quite recovered. However. that Will
give All Saints some false confidence.
which is Just what we want. NOW what
do you propose to do tonight? Jump on
to their tails at the start?"
mo good" said Hughie "They are too
old birds for that game. Besides. my
crew want very carefully working up to
fast stroke. I can't trust six at anything
| above thirtyfour. He'll go on rowing that
all day; but II I quicken up to thirty-slx
or seven he gets Mustered, and forty sends
him clean off his nut after about min
ute. No. we must just wear them down" >
Quite right" said darcy. IF you are
wit, within = length At the ;. Railway bridge
fully. that the crew are only good for
about one squirt. It's a good squirt. 1
must say. but II It fails we are done.
They can never slow down to q steady
stroke ENTHUSIASTICALLY six. So 1t simply
has to be made at the right moment. The
difficulty Is to know when
Have you got reliable cox?"
"First-class."
Cant he tell your"
TOO much row going on" said Hughie
'"rhe whole college will be on the tow
path tonight"
The Rev. Montague Darcy plunged his
hand into his tail pocket Of his clerical
frock coat. and produced therefrom
large-pattern service revolver.
Look here" he said you would be
able to hear this lethal weapon on the
day OF judgment itself. Will you consent
to take your time from me?'
Rather! Thank you. SIR" There was
no doubling the sincerity of Hughes
gratitude.
WELL" continued the clergyman, brisk
~, II shall wait by the Railway bridge.
on the Barnwell side. away from the tow
path; II you have made your bump I be,
good. But I don't think you will have
made 1t, and don't advise you to try.
For the first half Of the course those All
Saints men will match you stroke for
at six he will probably lose his head. AS
you pass under the Railway bridge
quicken slightly-not more than two
strokes minute. though. I have six
shots in this revolver. When you hear
two Of them that will mean that you are
getting within jumping distance and must
be ready for the squirt. When you hear
the remaining four In quick succession
you must simply swing out and put the
very last ounce Of your blood and bones
and bodies and souls into 1t. And If you
catch EN-" concluded the reverend gen.
tleman. by CAD! I'll dance the cachuca
BY this time they had reached the spot
where their racing shell-sixty-two feet of
flimsy cedar wood-was lying waiting for
them. The rest Of the crew, already as
sembled, were standing about in the atti
tudes OF profound detection or forced
hilarity. which appear to be the only al
ternatives Of department open to men who
are suffering from what IL expressively
termed 1.-THE needle" Some were whisting.
others were yawning. and all were won
derfng why on earth men took up rowing
as pastime.
Hughie gathered his Argonauts into a
knot, and at his request the Rev. Mon
campaign. Then the crew embarked. and
tho stout clergyman assisted the grizzled
college boatman-the only person present
whose nerves appeared unaffected by the
clear Of the bank, and set them going on
q half-minute dash as q preliminary to
their long paddle down the course to the
starting point Of the race.
In accordance Win picturesque Out
peculiar custom they wore in their straw
hats punches Of marigolds and corn flow
erszff1e college colors-as an intima ton
that they had achieved bumps during the
preceding nights; and so bedecked they
padded majestically down the long reach.
feeling extremely valorous and looking
slightly ridiculous, to challenge COM
parison Tin which they were hopeessly
outclassed from the START with the head
gear Of the assembled fair in Ditton pad
dock.
The method of sending off a humping
race is the refinement Of cruelty.
AS each boat reaches it's starting post
the crews d1sembark and stand dismally
about, listening to the last exhortations
Of coaches, or nervously cycling the crew
behind them. Presently an objectionably
loud piece Of artillery, situated half way
down the long line Of boats, goes off with
q roar. This Is called first gum and
means chiefly that there will be another
in three minutes. The crew mournfully
denude themselves of a few more articles
Of their already scanty wardrobe which
they pile upon the shoulders Of the per-
spring mental whose duty it is to convey
the same to the finishing post. and crawl
one by one into their places in the boat
| Finally, the coxswain coils himself into
his seat and takes both rudder lines in his
left hand, leaving the right free to grasp
the end of the boats last link with terra
firma. her starting chain. Then the Sec
ond gun goes. and the crew slludder and
know that in sixty seconds precisely they
must start.
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