in a little while the boat containing peter was out of sight around the corner of the street. larry thought it would be a good time to start in the right direction toward the telegraph office. accordingly he told the man at the oars to head the craft the other way.
“i’ll bet they’re up to some trick,” the man said. “the fellow rowing that boat is a foxy chap. i think he suspects something.”
“well, we’ll give him a race if we have to,” replied larry.
if larry had not been so intent on his errand he would have been interested in the strange sights all about him. the flooded city was alive with boats rowed or being propelled in all directions.
the people seemed to have gotten over their first fear, and, though there was much discomfort, they were making the best of circumstances. a large number of houses were under water to the second stories, and the families were living on the291 upper floors. a corps of men brought them food and supplies.
fortunately the weather was mild for november, and there was little real suffering. there was not much food, but, now that the waters had ceased rising, trains were being sent over the railroad bearing goods of various sorts for the relief of the homeless ones.
on and on larry’s boatman rowed him. it was quite a distance to the foot of the hill on which the telegraph tent was located, and progress was slow while they were threading their way in and out among the inundated streets. care had to be taken, also, not to be struck with the floating débris that was swirling along on the current.
“look behind you,” said the boatman suddenly to larry, who was in the stern, facing the oarsman. the boy turned.
there, coming after them, as fast as the man could bend to the sweeps, was the boat containing peter. the craft was forging through the water at a rapid pace and would be up to them in a short time.
“they’re following us!” exclaimed larry’s rower.
“i guess they’ve found out where the telegraph office is,” said larry, “and they’re going to try and get there first.”
“then it’s to be a race,” replied tony, larry’s man. “well, jim dexter will find i’m as good a292 hand at the oars as he is!” with this tony braced himself and began taking long strokes that sent the boat through the water at a good clip.
“mind where you steer now,” cautioned tony to larry. “don’t run us on a log or a floating house and i’ll get you to the telegraph place first.”
“i hope you do,” replied larry, as he took a firm grasp of the rudder. “if the scorcher beats the leader i’m liable to lose my job, and so is mr. newton.”
the other boat was almost up to them now. larry could hear peter urging jim to greater exertion as the boy sat in the sternsheets and steered, as larry was doing.
“ten dollars if you beat ’em!” peter exclaimed as his boat crept up inch by inch, until it was almost even with larry’s craft.
“i don’t need any ten dollars to beat him,” said tony, with a nod at jim. “he and i aren’t any too friendly and i’d like to wallop him, just for the looks of the thing, to say nothing of helping you out.”
“thanks,” spoke larry. “i haven’t ten dollars to offer you, but i’ve no doubt mr. newton will pay you well if you get me to the telegraph office first.”
the race was now on in earnest. the boats were side by side, and not far apart. both were headed for the hill, on the summit of which could be seen the white tent where the telegraph office293 was located. peter had played a trick on larry, by pretending to be hunting for the place. as a matter of fact he merely had jim row about until they saw in which direction larry’s boat went. then he followed.
they were now pretty well clear of the town, and were going over flooded fields. the water was filled with logs and stumps of trees, planks, bits of barnyard wreckage, and occasionally the dead body of a horse or cow. it required careful steerage to avoid hitting these objects, and in consequence the speed was not as great as it might otherwise have been.
the two men, who were old-time rivals, bent to the oars until the stout ash handles almost broke. the blades swirled through the water and the bows made ripples and foam as both craft forged ahead.
for a while the two boats were almost on even terms. they raced along not ten feet apart, and so nearly alike did jim and tony row that it looked as if the two were but one craft. but, little by little tony began to pull ahead. he put a little more force into his strokes and took longer ones, while jim was rowing in a rather ragged fashion.
once jim caught a “crab,” and nearly went overboard. this gave tony a big advantage, and he got almost a length ahead. however, he lost this lead in a little while, for larry, by some mischance,294 hit a log a glancing blow and tony had to stop rowing in order not to upset.
“be careful,” cautioned tony. “another one like that and we’ll lose the race.”
“i’ll be careful,” replied larry, ashamed of his error.
once again the two boats were about in line. the rowers were tiring, however, and could not go so fast. tony, who was an old hand at the oars, stuck to his task with grim determination, and soon he was half a length ahead of his rival.
by this time a crowd of people on the shore, which they were fast approaching, were aware that something unusual was under way. they came down close to the water’s edge to see the outcome of the race. the boats were now a little over a quarter of a mile away from the land.
“they’re beating us!” exclaimed peter, as he saw larry’s boat pulling steadily ahead. “can’t you row faster, jim?”
“i’m doing the best i can,” was the reply, but jim gritted his teeth and tried to get a little more power out of his strokes. it was seemingly useless, however, for tony with the regularity of clockwork was sending his boat through the water at a good clip.
“i can’t let him beat me!” exclaimed peter, while an ugly look stole over his face. “if i don’t get my copy there first i’ll be discharged. i’ve got to beat him, by fair means or foul.”
295 the distance between the boats was fast widening. larry’s was three-quarters of a length ahead now.
“i’ve got to do it!” exclaimed peter in a low tone.
then, with a sudden yank on the tiller ropes, he shifted the rudder so that the bow of his boat was pointed straight at larry’s craft.
“look out!” cried tony, who saw the movement. “you’ll upset us!”
larry, hearing the shout, turned to see peter’s boat racing toward him. he tried to steer out of the way, but there was no chance. an instant later the two boats came together with a crash. the gunwale of larry’s boat was cracked, and the force of the impact was so heavy that his craft careened until the water came over the other rail.
“we’re upsetting!” cried tony, throwing himself to one side in an endeavor to prevent what seemed certain to happen.
nor could he avoid it, for a second later the boat turned turtle, throwing the two occupants into the water.
“you did that on purpose!” cried tony, as he began to strike out vigorously toward peter’s boat.
“it was an accident!” cried peter, somewhat alarmed at the outcome of his mean trick.
“can you swim?” asked tony of larry, who had sunk once, but who soon bobbed up again.
296 “yes—i—can!” gasped the boy. “i had—to—kick—my—rubber—boots—off—though!”
they both struck out for peter’s boat, expecting that the occupants would stop and assist them. but this was not peter’s idea. jim would have stopped rowing and gone to the rescue of those in the water, but peter steered the boat to one side and the momentum carried it a considerable distance away.
“aren’t you going to help them?” asked jim.
“no!” snapped peter. “you keep on rowing. we must get to the telegraph office first! i’ve got to beat them!”
“but they may drown!”
“no danger. they can both swim, and they can cling to their boat until we come back. someone will come out from shore for them. see, some boats are starting already.”
this was so, several small craft putting out as soon as those on shore saw the accident happen.
“now you row on!” commanded peter. “i hired you to take me to the telegraph office and we haven’t time to stop and rescue people.”
“well, of all the mean—” began jim, and then he stopped. he realized that larry and tony were in no particular danger, but he felt that they should be taken into his boat. however, he wanted to earn the ten dollars peter had promised him.
“are you going to leave us?” called tony.
297 “it ain’t my doings,” called back jim. “he won’t let me stop.”
“then he’ll get his stuff to the telegraph office first,” said larry. “he’ll beat me!”
he and tony were clinging to the keel of their overturned boat.
“maybe we can get this right side up and catch them,” suggested tony.
“no, it’s too late,” said larry sorrowfully. “they have too much of a start.”
it seemed so, for peter’s boat was now about a quarter of a mile from shore, and jim was rowing fast.
“shall we swim in or wait until someone comes out and picks us up?” asked tony.
“might as well stay here,” replied larry. “it’s hard swimming in your clothes.”
his heart was full of bitterness, both at the mean trick peter had played, and at the thought of being beaten, for he knew that there would not be time for the telegraph operator to send both peter’s copy and his also in time for the afternoon paper. the leader would be beaten.
“hark! what’s that?” asked tony, as they moved about to get better positions in grasping the overturned boat.
“sounded like a whistle,” said larry.
“it was a whistle! a motor boat is coming toward us!” cried tony.
