Adventure, June 1911 — page 31: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

O’Donnell, Stirfman Number Six some assistance, he stopped and issued the following order. ‘Tell you what you do, O’Donnell. You practise swimmin’ every time you get a chance, an’ mebbe youll get us a, point or two, finishin’ second or third.” At a conference the following morning Reynolds detailed the results of his ques- tioning to the little group surrounding him, and what little hopes they might have had were immediately: dissipated. ‘An’ all he said he was good at was jiggin’!”’ growled Saunders. “Jiggin’!” Nothing more ex- pressive than the snort of disgust accom- panying this could have been uttered, and Saunders’ opinion of O’Donnell’s ability was echoed by the others. “So that’s all he can do, eh? Swim a little an’ jig. Well, it’s sure we can’t figure on him, then, an’ I reckon that settles it.’’ With this, Bennett arose and walked toward the beach where a hundred yards had been measured off on the hard, smooth sand, close to the water’s edge. The rest of the group followed him and watched him at his training. Three times his flying feet covered the distance in record time, and this sight so cheered the others that for a moment their hopes arose. Then that oft-calculated score, Napeague twenty- four, Gilgo twenty-one, and Zachs Inlet eighteen, was remembered, and Saunders remarked, for about the fortieth time, “T’aint no use. Billy can’t win but one thing an’ that’s already been figgered on.” £ Tit FINALLY the day came and, as some one declared, ‘it couldn’t have been no better if it had been made to order.” Bright and clear, with a cool breeze blowing from the- ocean along the beach, it was just the weather to incite a man to put forth the best there was in him, and even the Zachs Inlet crew joked and laughed as they tumbled into the Keeper’s dory for the four-mile run to Gilgo, the center station of the three, upon the grounds of which the championship of the island was to be settled. __~-Everything-was~in readiness when they arrived, the Napeague crew having pre- ceded them, so the rules governing the different events were read by one of the judges and agreed upon as satisfactory, and then the entrants for the one-hundred-yard dash were notified to take their positions 217 on the starting-line, and the pistol gave them the signal. It was Bennett’s race from the first. No other sprinter was within fifteen feet of him | as he passed the fifty-yard mark, and the ~ race was made interesting only by the hard struggle for second and third positions. Now King of Napeague was a foot or two in front, but the pace was too fast and he dropped behind Havens of Gilgo, and it seemed as if they would finish in that order. But a surprise was sprung upon the specta- tors in the last fifteen yards. Hulse had been running close behind the two leaders of the second division, and now it became evident that he would be a factor in the race. Inspired, perhaps, by the flying figure of his team-mate, now close to the finishing-line, he made a last desperate at- tempt for second honors and slowly but surely passed King and challenged Havens in a final burst of speed that put him over the line a scant six inches ahead of the Gilgo man. Great was the delight of the Zachs Inlet crew at this unlooked-for win, and when the scorekeeper chalked up a large eight on the board opposite their Station’s name they almost began to believe that they had a chance. But it seemed as though that were the only event they were to figure in. Howell of Napeague beat Reynolds’ best throw with the hammer by a good ten feet, and another Napeague man was third. Then Reynolds could do no better than finish third in the shot-put, first and second also being won by Napeague. The standing broad jump was easily won by Lee, Gilgo’s representative, and it seemed as if that station had a monopoly on jumpers, for they also captured second and third. Then came the mile run, and this proved another disappointment. Saunders and Drake represented Zachs Inlet in this, and both were confident of finishing well up. In fact, they thought that Haff, Gilgo’s entrant, was the only one they could not easily beat, and even if he succeeded in win- ning, second and third positions would give them four points, which would just put Zachs Inlet in the lead. But they had over- rated their abilities. Instead of finishing second and third, they were a good one hun- dred feet behind Haff when he crossed the line, with Pike and Howell of Napeague close at his heels. EO CORRICLO© SH