asculine rivals
were in close pursuit.

At the beginning of the contest Phyllis and Madge made the best forward
spurt. A moment later Flora and Alice brought their boat up bow and
bow.

Neither Madge nor Phil glanced toward their opponents. Their work lay
plainly ahead of them. The girls sat squarely in their skiff, their
bodies bending sharply forward, then back to recover. They held their
oars firmly but lightly, and pulled for their lives.

The four girls saw that the men were gaining on them. But they had
already covered half of the course. None of them cared very much
whether the boys were the victors. The two pairs of girls were intent
only on outstripping each other.

Madge and Phil knew they could not hold out long. But how they were
pulling! They had never done such splendid work before in their lives.
The boys were amazed. They were trying to keep their word to Madge. Now
it struck them that, after all, they would have to make a real effort
to win. The girls had made such a splendid advance that the men pulled
a little harder at their oars.

Flora Harris and Alice Paine gained a few feet on the other girls. The
experience of the former pair in rough waters was beginning to show.

Determination to win made Madge and Phil redouble their efforts. Their
opponents were only a shade ahead of them now. The boats were keeping
to their straight courses in the open sound. It is a first rule, in
boat racing of any kind, that each boat shall keep to its own water
throughout the race.

Flora Harris, as bowman, was responsible for the steering of her boat.
Whether from accident or intention, just as the bow of the rival skiff
came about midway the body of their shell Flora Harris pulled harder on
her port oar. Her boat swerved to the left. For a brief second the bow
crossed directly in front of the skiff rowed by the "Merry Maid" girls.
Madge was taken completely off her guard. She had not time to call out
to Phil. Phyllis, as stroke oar, was not expected to know what was
happening. Her duty was to row steadily ahead. Her companion's sudden
exclamation, the unexpected vision of the other boat in their course,
confused Phil. She lost her stroke. In the same second, Flora Harris
and Alice Paine returned to their course and pulled triumphantly ahead.
Their mistake lost them first place. But they outclassed Madge and
Phil. Harry Sears and George Robinson swept past and came up to the
stake. Flora and Alice were second.