But Trentville was showing its boasted reserve steam.

Close as they now were to the finish, Pascal had no thought of
permitting defeat to come to his crew.

No dinning of whistles was there now. Every spectator waited
breathlessly for the outcome that would be reached in the next
few seconds.




CHAPTER XXIV

CONCLUSION


Then the end came.

Pascal sank back on his seat with a groan when he had put in the
last dip of his paddle that could do any good.

Frantic indeed was the cheering, and now once more came the deafening
screech of whistles.

From the judges' launch, as soon as the din had died down a bit,
came the announcement through a megaphone:

"Gridley High School wins by three quarters of a length."