Their attempt, however, was as unsuccessful as had been those of the scholars en ma.s.se; and finally Socker Gales exclaimed:

"Let's toss a coin!"

The suggestion met with instant approval from both of the opposing forces.

Quickly Dawson drew a coin from his pocket, balancing it on his thumb and forefinger.

"I'll toss. Springtown, you call!" he exclaimed.

High in the air he spun the coin, and as it whirled over and over, the leader of the Springtownians, shouted: "Tails!"

With a sharp click the bit of money struck the ice, and then as though driven by perverseness, it rolled some twenty feet, finally striking a depression, into which it fell.

The instant the coin had struck the ice and started on it's runaway career, the boys who had been watching the tossing, set after it; but fleet as they were, it managed to elude them and had settled in the ice crevice before they had overtaken it.

"Which is it?" called the others, as two of the Rivertown boys reached the spot.

"Heads," they replied.

"That means you lose, Springtown!" chorused the rest of the Rivertown scholars.

But the challengers from up the river refused to accept the fall of the coin as an omen.

"Which distance are you going to take?" demanded the leader of the visitors.

"Wait until I talk with the boys who are going to race," announced Dawson.

"We'll make it two miles!" he finally exclaimed, after a brief consultation.

This announcement met with varied exclamations from the Rivertown students.

"Paul and Jerry never can stand that distance in the world," shouted several of their mates.

"Never mind, that's Watson's pet race, and all we want to do is win it,"

declared Misery. "This isn't a meet where we have to have points to win."

But despite his confident announcement, there were many of the scholars who scoffed at the thought that the boy who had so lately come to Rivertown would be able to defeat the man who had twice won the race for Springtown.

Realizing what was in their minds, several of the seniors skated about among the Rivertown students.

"Don't sulk!" they exclaimed. "Show some life! We chose the two miles, and it's up to you people to give some support to the boys who are going to race! Don't act as though you thought we were beaten already. Come on now, rip out a cheer!"

Under the lash of the words, the boys and girls of Rivertown let out cheer after cheer, winding up the various school cries with the names of the boys who were to represent it's honor.

Valiantly, Springtown came back, but not enough scholars had come down the river to produce a volume as great as that of the home town, and they finally abandoned their efforts to out-cheer their rivals.

The preliminaries having been arranged while the battle of voices was being fought out, the student leaders had drawn a line on the ice from one of the old landmarks which had been used on the river for the races between the two schools for generations, while three or four others started up the ice to stand the stakes at the finish line, which was also indicated by long established posts.

As soon as the latter had taken their position, the contestants were lined up.

Having lost the choice of distance, according to the traditions of the races between the two schools, the task of starting the race fell to Springtown, and d.i.c.k Wenzel, the captain of the baseball team, was proclaimed the man to give the word.

Separating into groups which lined up, each about their representatives, the scholars again gave vent to cheers, and when they finally subsided, Wenzel warned the racers to be ready, then sent them away.

During the time that they were waiting, Paul and Jerry had posted Harry as well as they could on the tricks of their opponents; and the three boys had come to the conclusion that inasmuch as the race was to be for two miles, it would be best to let the visitors set the pace.

The boys from the head of the river, however, quickly fell to the game and slackened their speed.

"Wake up! Put some ginger into it. This isn't a walking match!" shouted the boys and girls who were following the contestants, irrespective of the schools to which they belonged.

During the first few hundred yards, Harry had sized up his opponents closely, noting from the short strokes they took, that while they could maintain a high rate of speed for a short distance, they were more than likely to exhaust themselves before they could go the two miles; and when he heard the taunts of his schoolmates, he decided to take a chance of being outskated by the rivals of Rivertown.

All six of the boys were skating along leisurely, when of a sudden Harry put on a burst of speed, shooting to the front; and before the others had realized what had happened he had opened a s.p.a.ce of fifty feet between him and his compet.i.tors.

"After him! After him! Don't let him get too much of a lead on you,"

warned the Springtown students, dismayed to think anyone could make such a gain on their representatives.

The glee of the Rivertown scholars was in proportion to the anxiety of their rivals.

But though the representatives of Springtown responded to the demands of their mates, Harry had a flying lead and, exert themselves as they would, the boys from up the river could not gain on him.

His arms and feet swinging in perfect rhythm, Harry sped over the smooth ice, the shouts of his schoolmates ringing in his ears.

"You've got a good lead, slow up!" shouted those of his mates who were nearest to him, while others cautioned him to take it easy, in the fear that he could not last the full distance. But the boy knew himself better than they, and kept on at his top speed, unmindful of their advice.

Hard behind him came a Springtown skater, but could not cut down his lead appreciably.

Barely able to hold their own with the others, Paul and Jerry struggled along, and as they saw that their chum had so great an advantage they devoted their energies to coaching him.

"You've got them all puffing, and there's only a quarter more to go!

There isn't one of them who can spurt! Just take care of yourself and don't fall!" they shouted from time to time.

As the cries reached his ears, Harry raised his head, looked for the finish line, and to his delight saw it even nearer than he supposed.

The sight made him feel so happy that he determined to give a still greater exhibition of his speed; and striking out as though he were perfectly fresh, instead of having skated more than a mile and three-quarters, he raced over the ice, opening farther and farther the distance that separated him from his Springtown rivals.

His spurt had been greeted with gasps of surprise from his schoolmates, and many were the shouts hurled at him to be careful lest he exhaust himself and get beaten out at the finish. When they saw he was skating strong and steadily, however, the Rivertown boys and girls gave vent to the wildest glee, and howled and cheered, breaking their schools yells with rhythmic chants of:

"Watson! Watson! Watson!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: "WATSON! WATSON! WATSON!"]

CHAPTER XX-HARRY RECEIVES BAD NEWS