w of his boat
and shouts the usual question.

The next moment he gives the word, and the two boats dart forward like
arrows from a bow, and the race has begun.

Gilks and Silk up above Willow Corner heard the shout which greeted the
start, and turned anxiously towards the direction from which it came.

"They're off now!" said Silk, trying to appear more unconcerned than he
really was.

"Yes; no mistake about it!" said Gilks, whose anxiety was certainly not
less than that of his friend.

"How long before we see them?"

"Three minutes; they ought to get into the School Reach by then."

Neither spoke for a minute. Then Silk said, "What a row the fellows are
making!"

"Yes," said Gilks; "there's a bigger crowd than I ever saw down this
year."

Another silence. And then presently in the far distance, at the end of
the School Reach, they could see first the smoke of Mr Parrett's
launch, then a black moving crowd on the bank, and finally two white
specks on the water.

"There they are!" said Gilks.

"Can you tell which is which?" asked Silk.

"No, not yet."

An anxious minute followed. The doctor and his party on the point
opposite left their tent and came down to the water's edge; spectators
who had been getting tired of waiting now freshened up and made final
and desperate attempts to improve their position, while those who meant
to fall in with the runners buttoned their jackets and turned up their
trouser ends.

"Schoolhouse inside!" exclaimed Gilks, suddenly, as the sun momentarily
caught the blue oars of the inside boat.

This was all that could be ascertained for the moment. From where they
sat the blue and the red flags seemed to be coming towards them exactly
abreast.

The crowd advanced with a roar, above which it was impossible to hear
the name of the leading crew. But presently, as the two boats
approached the corner, a slight turn inwards enabled them to answer the
question for themselves.

"We lead!" exclaimed Silk.

Silk was a Welcher and Gilks a schoolhouse boy, but "we" meant
Parrett's.

Yes, the red flag was ahead, though only a little.

"How long before they're at the point?"

"Half a minute. I say, how splendidly the schoolhouse are steering,
though!"

Silk laughed. "More than Parrett's are! Young Parson's taking them
round rather sharp, isn't he?"

"No; he always turns in like that; it's better than the long sweep. Now
look out!"

During this brief dialogue the