on too much steam at the start!"

"There goes Porter ahead of him!"

"See, Morr, Lawrence, and Plum are even!"

"Yes, and there comes Ben Basswood up to them!"

"Here they come! Clear the way, everybody!"

With a rush the skaters came on. For one brief instant Roger was ahead,
but then the others put on a burst of speed, and over the line they
came, amid a great yelling and cheering.

"A tie between Morr, Plum, and Lawrence!"

"And Basswood and Porter tied for second place!"

"Nat Poole wasn't in it, after all."

"My skate got loose," grumbled Nat, as he came up slowly. "If it hadn't
been for that I would have won."

"That's an old excuse, Nat!" shouted a boy in the rear of the crowd.
"Invent something new!" And a laugh went up, that angered the
money-lender's son greatly. He took his defeat bitterly, and lost no
time in leaving the ice and disappearing from view.

"A fine race!" declared Mr. Dodsworth, "But I don't know how I am to
award the prize."

"Cut it in three parts," suggested Buster.

"Say, that puts me in mind of a story," came from Shadow. "An old
Irishman was dying and wanted to make his will. 'How do ye want to lave
yer money, Pat' asked his friend. 'Sure,' says Pat; 'I want to lave it
all to me woif an' me four childer, equal loike, so ivery wan gits a
quarter!'"

"We might have another race," suggested Mr. Dodsworth. "That is, if you
are not too tired--I mean, of course, a race between those who were
tied."

"Oh, let us cut sticks for it," suggested Phil.

"That will suit me," said Plum.

"Me, too," said the senator's son. "I am too tired to race again."

So the three lads drew sticks for the prize, and Gus Plum won.

"Hello! I'm in luck!" cried Gus, and looked much pleased. The silver
lead-pencil sharpener was passed over to him, and he thanked the
gymnastic instructor warmly for it.

"I am glad he got it, since it pleases him," said Phil to Roger, and the
senator's son nodded in agreement.

The only boy who felt sore over the race was Nat Poole, and he continued
to declare that he would have won had his skate not come loose.

"But just wait," he said, to some of the students. "I'll show 'em what I
can do when we get to playing hockey." And that very night he started in
to organize an ice-hockey team. He did not consult Mr. Dodsworth or
Andrew Dale, fearing that they would not favor his selection of players.

"They have nothing to do with hockey," Nat explained to his friend