e two shells to which we have
drawn attention. But they drew out of the way to give the racers a free
field.

On and on went Jerry and Harry until the big pine was reached. Then came
the turn, and they started on the home stretch side by side, neither one
foot ahead of the other.

"It's going to be a tie race."

"Pull, Harry! Let yourself out!"

"Show him what you can do, Jerry!"

Encouraged by the shouts of their friends, both boys increase their speed.
But the increase on both sides was equal, and still the boats kept bow and
bow as they neared the boathouse.

"It's going to be a tie, sure enough."

"Spurt a bit, Jerry!"

"Go it for all you're worth, Harry!"

Again the two contestants put forth additional muscle, each to out-distant
his opponent, and again the two row-boats leaped forward, still side by
side.

As old Jack Broxton, the keeper of the boathouse, said afterward: "It
would have taken twelve judges, sitting twelve days, to have told which
had the advantage."

The finishing point was now less than five hundred feet distant, and in a
few seconds more the race would be over. The crowd began to stop shouting,
almost breathless with pent-up interest. It was surely the prettiest race
that had ever been rowed on Otasco Lake.

Splash!

The splash was followed by a splutter, and then a frantic cry for help. A
portion of the high float in front of the boathouse had unexpectedly given
way, and a short, stocky, reddish-black youth had gone floundering over
board.

"Blumpo Brown has gone under."

"It serves him right for standing away out on the edge of the float."

"Help! Help!" cried the youth in the water. "Hold on, Harry! Jerry, don't
run into me!"

Alarmed by the cries, the two racers turned around, easing up on their
oars as they did so. A single glance showed them that the unfortunate one
was directly in their path.

"We must stop!" cried Jerry Upton to his friend.

"All right; call it off," responded Harry Parker. "It was a tie."

As he finished, both shells drew up, one on either side of Blumpo Brown.
Each of the rowers offered the struggling youth a helping hand.

Blumpo was soon clinging to Jerry's shell. He was dripping from head to
foot, and not being at all a handsomely-formed or good-looking youth, he
presented a most comical appearance.

"It's too bad I spoiled the race," mumbled Blumpo. "But that's just
me--always putting my foot into it."

"I guess you put more than your