CHILDREN'S COLUMN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12660, 14 September 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

CHILDREN'S COLUMN.

CANKKRDOWN V. CORONET. •vt.'-'v- ;■■■'. 'l-'i-'-'v.'-v ','^'.. : .'•-"' ''.'"- ,'■-' " I telk you, young master, you wont be hi it where them beggars are concerned. There's no four oars 'bout here as could hope to hold their own for half a mile with the pick of the o™fcenlowri Club." Parks the lock-keeper ' grinned maliciously as lie spoke, : leaning ; over the river by the gates, watching Hehnslcy, who sat in a skiff and scowled: .Tho; water;, lapped the green sides of the lock that were shaded from the rays of. an August sun. Helmsley was not happy. In the first place -he "hated the Cankerdown Rowing Club and its members; 'He was the son •of Joshua Helmsley, who had made a pile of money over glue, L arid who had retired to Cankerdown, living in the best house there.; He affected the merest tolerance for' tho society of the country town. Young Helmsley was a devotee of the oar, but the Cankerdown Club was not good enough for. him, ; so; he .established one of, his own, calling it the Coronet Rowing ; Club. The rude question which its rival put, "What have icoronets to do with j glue?" he treated with a proper contempt. | A massive silver cup had been offered j by an outsider to the winners of a race j over a five-mile course. Four rowing clubs \ were to compete, but it ; was generally understood that the matter rested between the Cankerdown and the Coronet. i And now came Parks, an old rowing j expert, to dishearten the stroke of the ! Coronet .boat. ■>■■" I've never seen a clinker-four handled ; better," he continued. "Number two's the weakest link; the»bow and number three are first-rate, and Austin Wilson is a born stroke— 'thunder he is!" 5 "You seem■;:glad,"'.;, growled Helmsley, "I believe you're piling it on." "No; I'm"not," insisted the lock-keeper,, "though I'd like to see you in first. 1 tell you it's a. treat to watch the Cankerdown. Saw 'em go over tho course early yesterdav morning. They've got a smart; well-pulled stroke, and the way the bow side takes the ; Sends is more than good, while their cos is artful enough for anything. Catch him giving away a point!' . "Confound!" "You're beaten before you start." " I'd give a ten-pound note to lick those ■ fellows," said Helmsley, gloomily., : Parks regarded the speaker with a peculiar look. " You mean that?" said he. . I Helmsley glanced iip at the tone. "Of I ■course,'", he answered quickly, and his coli our heightened. , |"' There was a pause ; then .the lock-keeper I leaned forward as he said ; "I see no reason why you shouldn't pull it off to-morrow." . ■ "But I do,: They're the better lot." "Bui their boat might fail 'em?" The flush deepened on Helmsley's cheeks. "I never thought of that," he murmured, watching a dark swirl of water by the gates.-', r The lock-keeper peered this a;ad that way before, he continued, speaking in a hoarse whisper, "But I did. I can make it oertaiti for you, if—if—if—" "If what?'' • - If you'll make it twelve—twelve sovereigns and no questions. You agree?" . •; ■ Helmsley was now as pale as he had been crimson. For an instant honour rose in revolt, "'but■ fee crushed it. "Yes,; 1 agree," he replied, huskily.

Helmsley ran his skiff into a; backwater and secured it lightly to a pollard.' He flung his hat into the meadow grass and tossed his blazer after it. He muttered to himself as he prepared for swim. "No doubt 'its a pretty mean thing to do, but I'd go further to lower the colours of those Cankerdown cads." * He dived from the straight bank into *»ho stream. ' , '.-■The water rap with an icy coomsss, for the sun had warmed its surface only. Helmsley turned upon his back, enjoying that delicious sensation of b*iug carried on the bosom of a river that looks up to a blue sky and flows by Its S3dge grass and iris. : "' " •,' '- : 'y ' Suddenly he became conscious of a peculiar feeling; something had gripped him by the legs and .was pmliiuK him down. At first he thought that this really was the case, and he endeavoured to kick out and loosen the hold of his-unseen, enemy; but a terrible pain which followed the attempt showed him plainly what .v/a* wrong. He. had been attacked by cramp. The pain that robbed, him. of his strength left him his nerve. He turned breast downward and essayed to propel himself by his : arms to the bank : but that cruel dead weight at his feet dragged him slowly under. The knowledge that a victim to cramp never rises when - once the Water closes over . him flashed through the swimmer's mind. He had a single instant to make .an appeal for help. To whom? A final despairing gaze showed him a figure a long way off. And he gave a terrible cry. The next moment the stream covered him; he felt himself sinking downward through a cold gloom. The sensations which , attend drowning are pleasing only to the imaginative, lelnjsley opened his mouth to breajbhaj

a rush of water poured into his lungs. It "was like fire. He struggled madly, until after what seemed a year of suffering his senses abandoned him. *, , When he opened his eyes he saw the fjwie of Austin Wilson 'sbending over him. The stroke of the Cankerdowu boat sighed with relief. . "You're- dead, ehr ; said he. "Ain't I?" replied Helmsley „stupidly. ■ ■'" I ; wasl beginning to think you: were a goner. Dived three times before I brought you up." struggled out of a world of ■■■■'■' Helmsley struggled out of a world of darkness. At the * back '; of awaiting consciousness was the; thought, "Would to goodness some other fellow had got me out of such a hole!" .;_.'

11lThere was a big crowed at Cankerdowu Ferry, which was the starting-point of the race that was about to commence. Each of the four boats, with its crew of four, waited restlessly for the pistol-shot. In spite of his narrow escape on • the previous day Helmsley ; had taken his place as stroke oar of his boat. He appeared to show an excitement which was ascribed to the effects of his immersion. " He's not fit for the work, and ought to have resigned," said many. •■>•' ; At the critical moment Helmsley looked up and caught, the eye; of Parks fixed in a stare full of meaning upon him. He shrank under l the* gaze, and: a wretched twinge of conscience sent the blood to his cheeks. What had the lock-keeper done to the Cankerdowu " boat? Helmsley ; longed to be able to reply to that question. But he had not interfered; he had allowed the matter to take its own course." : ' "No doubt," he had comforted himself by saying,: "Wilson and his fellows will find out at the last moment .that something is wrong." But they had not found out. And now nothing remained but an open confession if -Helmsley—-would save his honour. He told himself that it was impossible; he could hot endure such? a thing, even though lis owed his life to Wilson. ,; Suddenly what seemed a clap of thunder rang in his, ears; /it was followed by a roar ;of shouting. The signal had been fired. They were off! A boat shot in front. It was neither the Coronet nor the Cankerdown. It was a brief honour; the spasmodic effort was all too great to be maintained; and the boat "passed by a crew with a longer and more regular swing.. It speedily fell into fourth place. Helmsley and Wilson were content with second, racing neck and neck, at a distance of fifteen yards. An electric launch followed the boats, in which were the umpire, Colonel Grimshaw —the donor of the prizeand friends. A swarm of cyclists,-.:■. runners,:; and a- few horsemen streamed along either bank; tod each member ; of the crowd ■ shouted his appreciation or disgust. '/; A sharp curve in the- river came into view, and it was at once seen that each crew meant to round it first. The leading boat was passed almost without an; effort on the part of its two formidable rivals. At that time Helmsley ,had the nearer, inner side. ; Wilson increased the pace more and mote, finally succeeding in heading off the Coronet, giving her the doubtful benefit of his wash, and, amidst a storm of cheering, bow ; and three of the; Cankerdowu assisted the cox in swinging the racer round the curve ;in the most

finished style. -.' The advantage was more than maintained. Away went the Carikerdown, the water swirling from her nose, ';, her : crew working like a machine. Half ; & mile from the winning-post she was leading hy a score of lengths, and there ; was no doubt in the minds of any that the race } was practically over. Suddenly a ■ roar of excitement . awoke the echoes, h Bow had broken, his oar! Number three, unaware of the' cause of the yelling, pulled on until the frantic cox screamed the bad tidings in his ears. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the bow iling himself from'the bo-it. Number three followed, to relieve the craft of his useless weight. . t Something '. like a groan broke from Austin lips. He gripped hi 3 oar with a renewed tenacity and prepared for the struggle of his life. The stroke of the Coronet could not, of course, see what had happened, but he guessed, and • guessed rightly. . The thought—" That was Parks' work; 5 he tampered with an oar," ; flashed through ; his mind. Then he forgot everything, save that he meant to win the race at ail hazards—-for-I got everything save : that ;he was a scare ; of lengths behind, and : theACankordowa i sorely crippled." He pulled tl furiously, straining every sinew. , His boat fairly leaped through the water narrower and more narrow grew the distance between it and its rival.

Everyone was swarming towards } the goal;■;■■ a hoarse yelling, in which ; all distinctive : sounds • .were drowned, filled ; the air. Wilson heard' rather ■ than saw his opponents closing up; and his cox heard them, and the face of that individual was a study. " ■ - - • ' ■j. Neck and neck at last! A fierce joy seized upon Helmsley. -The; race' was his. But forty strokes • or,; so from the flag; that -was all. At that instant, when victory within his grip, the voice *of honour, ; which 'f he* j believed he had stifled, made itself heard more loudly than before. The roar of the throng appeared tc( die, away. He pulled mechanically, and as he pulled he argued with himself. He said, "Wilson had all the luck till now; I wasn't in form through ray accident yesterday; that's why he got the lead. Besides, what can I do now if. It's too late." < At a distance of twenty yards from the umpire's boat the race seemed over. The Coronet was leading. 1 by three lengths, and; her crew, certain of the *■ result, abstained: from pitting their full strength against the ; two oars in the-rival beat—two oars who were struggling -as if they had the power of four, aud hoping against hope. But at the final moment, when a frenzy of applause trembled on the lips of the Coronet's adherents, an extraordinary thing happened.: The stroke of that crew actually ! caught a crab! Back he went, sprawling all over num- ; ber three, who fell; sidewaysi, nearly upsetting the boat. -; A deafening yell* went up from hundreds of throats.;; Wilson gave something like a sob as he put forth one of those efforts which are rightly termed superhuman, and amidst a roar of excitement which rang in his ears as if it were miles off he dashed past the still-flounder-ing Coronet boat and won the race by a matter of a yard—rather less. Helmsley drew his sweater over his perspiring shoulders, and he looked askance at his three men, who were crimson with exertion and annoyance. ■ " I feel sorry for them," he said to him* self ; " but"—he took the hand which Wilson extended to him, and gripped it hard; " but I'm glad, 'for myself," he added, "And of course they'll never guess." Nor did they—or anyone elseimagine for a moment that the stroke of the Coronet boat had purposely covered himself with humiliation that he might save big honour.-—Chums.