dience to the summons of Blades, the stroke
of the Parkhurst Four.

I should explain that at Parkhurst we were peculiarly favoured in the
matter of boating. The River Colven flowed through the town only half a
mile from the school boundaries, and being at that place but a short
distance from the sea, it was some fifty yards broad, a clear, deep
stream, just the sort of water one would choose for rowing. There was
no lock for six miles or so up, and the few craft which came in from the
sea rarely proceeded beyond Parkhurst; so that we had a long,
uninterrupted stretch of water for our boats, which, as soon as ever the
spring set in, and the weather became too hot for football and hare and
hounds, appeared in force every half-holiday on its surface.

Some of the fellows on such occasions used to amuse themselves by
starting off for a long, leisurely grind up-stream; or else with set
sail to tack down the lower reaches towards the sea; but most of us who
laid claim in any degree to the name of enthusiastic oarsmen, confined
our operations mainly to the Two Mile Reach, on which most of the club
races were rowed, chief of which was the Old Boys' Race, already
referred to.

This race had been instituted some years before my time at the school,
by an old Parkhurstian, who presented a cup, to be rowed for annually,
between the best four-oared crew of the present school, and any crew of
old pupils who had been at Parkhurst within two years.

This race was the all-absorbing topic in our boat-club for several weeks
before the event. How carefully the crew were selected, how strictly
they trained, how patiently Mr Blunt, one of the masters, and an old
Cambridge oar, "coached" or tutored them; how regularly the boat went
over the course morning after morning, before breakfast; how eagerly the
fellows criticised or commended the rowers; how impatiently we all
looked forward to the coming contest!

This year our prospects were doubtful. The Old Boys had got together a
strong crew, who were reported by some who had been over to see them to
be very fast, and in splendid form; while we, at the last moment, had
had the disadvantage to lose our coxswain and have to fill his place
with a less experienced hand. Still, the school "four" was a good one,
carefully drilled, with plenty of power; one which Mr Blunt pronounced
ought to hold its own with any other average crew. So, on the whole,
there was no saying how the chances stood.