No excursion had come up from the home town to-day, for no one
in Gridley had believed that their high school youngsters could
defeat the seasoned Trentville High School canoe crew.

Only two days before Trentville had won from Preston High School
by nearly five lengths.

What show was there for Dick & Co. or for Gridley High School?

Hence the smallness of the Gridley crowd present.

However, some hundreds of people who looked on were eager only
to see the best crew win, as they had no ties binding them either
to Gridley or to Trentville.

But the unexpected had happened.

In the first place, when the Trentville canoe and crew arrived
at the lake Dick Prescott had insisted that Preston High School
and Trentville High School race together first.

Thus he had opportunity to watch the Trentville work. Moreover,
by delaying his own race against Trentville, Dick had had more
time to train and drill his crew into form, both as to paddling
and endurance.

He had profited well by these opportunities. To-day, from the
outset, he had handled his crew so that a slight lead over Trentville
had been maintained. This had been gradually increased, and now