"It's a trick to enable them to get out of the match!" asserted Ward
Hammond, with a stinging sneer. "All this pretense of making a search is
the veriest humbug! The idea that one of their number would wander away
into the woods, or drown himself in the lake while out of his head from
a little fever, is the greatest rot that any one ever tried to foist on
the public."
A considerable concourse of people had gathered on the margin of Lake
Lily to witness the swimming match announced to come off that morning at
nine o'clock sharp. They were seated on camp stools, on wooden benches,
and on the rocks and grass. The boathouse of the Lake Lily Athletic Club
was filled with them.
And now the rumor had gone forth that Frank Merriwell and his friends of
the Lake Lily Club would not enter the contest because they were
organizing to search for one of their number who had been strangely
missing since the previous afternoon.
"It's a clear backdown," declared Hammond, walking up to a group of his
Glendale friends. "They know they dare not meet us, and they're simply
making that an excuse. I'll bet big money that, if the truth were known,
the fellow they say is lost is hidden away somewhere in one of their
cottages."
Merriwell's party, with Colson, Tetlow and others, came out of a cottage
at that moment. They wore a sober, serious air. They had been talking
the thing over, and were intending to institute another search through
the woods and along the shores of the lake, though they had already made
a number of such searches. Merriwell was to speak to the people, and
explain why it was they could not enter the swimming match, and was to
announce that if nothing was heard of Browning by noon, the lake would
then be dragged for his body.
But scarcely were they out of the cottage, when Harry Rattleton swung
his cap and gave a great cheer.
"There he is!" he whooped. "Just in sight, coming over that rise!"
He broke away from the crowd and ran swiftly to meet Browning, who had
lost his way again, in spite of the moonlight, and had been forced to
remain in the woods all night.
The story that Browning had strolled across the mountains for a walk,
and had been assaulted and robbed by highwaymen, spread like wildfire.
It was not started by Browning's friends, but when they found it
current, they did not try to correct it, choosing to let it go at that,
instead of giving the true account of his experiences.
Ward Hammond's boasting came to a sudden termination when he saw
Browning return, and knew that he would have to swim against the youths
he had been so maliciously maligning.
It was ten o'clock, an hour later than the time fixed, when Frank
Merriwell and Sep Colson, who had been selected by the members of the
Lake Lily Club to uphold the club honors in the swimming match, came out
of their dressing-room in the boathouse.
Ward Hammond and Dan Matlock, the chosen champions of the other club,
were already at the starting point, and the spectators, who had been
kept so long in waiting, were growing impatient at the delay.
"Oi'm bettin' thot yez kin bate thim fellies out av soight, Frankie, me
b'y!" cried Barney, jubilantly. "Thot Hommond sint up his rooster
crowin' a bit too soon, so he did, as he'll be foindin' out moighty
quick, now!"
"I'm sure we'll do our best, Barney," promised Merriwell, touched by the
Irish lad's loyalty.
"We can always depend on you for that, Merry!" said Rattleton. "We want
you to beat Hammond worse than you did in the shooting. And you can do
it, too!"
"I don't doubt he's safe enough to do that," grumbled Bruce, who had
come down to the boathouse in spite of his aching head and generally
used-up condition. "But as for me! Ugh! I wouldn't leap into that water
for wages. It makes me shiver to look at it!"
Rattleton gave a wink and thrust his hands into his pockets. Gallup and
Mulloy imitated his example, and when their hands came out, they were
seen to contain each a number of white capsules.
"Take another dose of quineen, and keep off that chill," said Rattleton,
extending the capsules toward Bruce.
"Gullup daown another dost of quinine an' keep off that gol darn chill!"
cried Ephraim, pushing the capsules into Browning's face.
"Swally anither dose av quoinin an' kape aff thot ager," advised Barney,
doing the same.
Browning arose to his feet and shook his fist at them in mock rage,
whereupon they dodged backward and made a feint of swallowing the
capsules themselves.
"Mistah Browning'll make you have wuss dan de fevah an' chilluns,"
warned Toots. "I's su'mised dat Mistah Browning ain't feelin' berry good
dis mawnin--no, sar!"
Suddenly Browning was seen to straighten up and stare toward the slope
where the benches had been placed.
"There she is," he whispered, nodding his head in that direction.
"She! Who? What are you talking about?" demanded Jack Diamond.
"Nell Thornton! Don't look at her right now, and all at once. But you
can see her on the end of that farthest bench. The slim girl, with the
cotton dress and calico sunbonnet. Heavens! I'm glad to see her, for I
know now that she succeeded in pulling the wool over the eyes of that
villain, Sam Turner!"
"And she has come here for no other purpose than to let you see her, so
that you may know that she is safe," observed Diamond.
"I believe you are right," assented Browning.
Then the entire party went out to the edge of the boat landing, from
which point the swimmers were to dive and begin the race.
"Are you all ready?" asked the starter, as Merriwell and Colson, Hammond
and Matlock stood up side by side, and faced the deep-blue water in
which they were to contest for the supremacy.
"Ready!" ran along the line.
"One, two, three--go!"
At the word, four trim, muscular forms flashed in the air, shot
downward, and slipped into the depths with scarcely a splash.
"They're off!" some one yelled.
With a waving of handkerchiefs and a fluttering of fans and umbrellas,
the spectators began to cheer.
Ward Hammond and Frank Merriwell came to the surface first, with Colson
and Matlock close after them. Hammond was a full yard ahead of Frank,
and the latter's friends saw that Merriwell would not have an easy task
if he defeated the Glendale youth, who seemed to be able to dive and
swim like a fish.
But Merriwell was not worrying over the outcome of the race. He knew
that a race is not always won by a brilliant start, and that the final
stretch is what tests the strength of the swimmer. So while Ward Hammond
spurted and increased his lead, Merriwell swam low and easily, with his
head well back on his shoulders, and without any unnecessary expenditure
of muscle.
Craig Carter, who had been seated in a boat beside the landing, now
pushed the boat off, and dropping the oars into the rowlocks, prepared
to follow the swimmers leisurely, that a boat might be at hand in case
of accident. Of course, he was one of Hammond's most fiery henchmen, and
he did not hesitate to show his partiality by shouting encouraging cries
to him.
"That's right, Ward! Give full spread to your hands and feet. Gather a
little quicker, frog fashion. That's right! Go it, old man! They can't
any of them beat you! Hurrah for the Blue Mountain boys!"
"I hope he'll fall out of that boat and drown himself," was Rattleton's
uncharitable wish. "He actually makes me sick!"
"His friend hasn't won the race yet," said Diamond, studying the
swimmers with a critical eye. "Colson is a good swimmer, too, isn't he?
He's coming right up alongside of Merriwell."
The race was to a stake, set far enough from the shore to test the
strength and wind of the swimmers, thence back to the point of starting.
Up to this stake and around it Ward Hammond led, with Merriwell second,
Colson third, and Matlock closely crowding Colson.
When the stake was turned and the swimmers headed shoreward, it was seen
that Hammond was fully six yards in the lead.
Craig Carter was standing up in his boat, alternately sculling and
swinging the oar aloft to give emphasis to his Indian-like yells, and
the excitement among the spectators perceptibly increased.
"By Jove! I'm afraid Hammond is going to beat Merry!" confessed Bart
Hodge, with an uneasy shifting of his feet. "See him spurt! He goes
through the water like a torpedo boat!"
"I'll het you my bat--I mean I'll bet you my hat--that he doesn't!"
averred Rattleton, whose faith in Merriwell's ability was always
supreme. "Now look, will you? Hurrah for Merry! Talk about your torpedo
boats! That's the stuff, Frank! Hooray! hooray! hooray!"
Rattleton crowded so near the edge of the landing that he was in danger
of tumbling into the water, and there, standing on tiptoe and swinging
his cap, he sent his shrill cries ringing across the surface of the
lake.
Merriwell seemed still to be swimming easily, with his body well under
and his head poised lightly on his shoulders, but it was observed that
he was greatly increasing his speed. Not in the spurting, jerky manner
of Hammond, but with a steady pull, that was bound to tell in the
outcome.
The spectators noticed this, and their clamor increased. One
solemn-looking man jumped to the top of a tall stump and capered like a
schoolboy, while a couple of Glendale's severest old maids, whom nobody
supposed could be moved to any show of emotion by such a scene, were
actually seen to hug each other and shed tears.
Inch by inch, foot by foot, and yard by yard, Frank gained on his
opponent and bitter enemy. His head drew alongside of Hammond's
thrashing heels, forged up to Hammond's side, came up to Hammond's
shoulder and neck, then passed him.
Hammond gave his antagonist a frightened glance, and tried to swim
faster, seeking to regain his lost ground by another spurt. But he had
seriously winded himself, and he found the feat impossible.
And still the crowd yelled, and whooped, and fluttered handkerchiefs,
and thumped the benches.
Craig Carter had long ceased his insane antics. His face wore a look of
anxiety.
Suddenly, as the swimmers were drawing past a point that jutted out into
the lake, a dog sprang into the water and paddled toward them. It was
Craig Carter's spaniel. It recognized him as he sat in the boat, and was
anxious to join him. The boat was beyond the swimmers, and the dog, in
attempting to reach it, swam against Merriwell, and almost lost him his
position. Frank lifted himself and gave the spaniel a heavy shove, which
caused it to sink beneath the surface.
The sight threw Craig Carter into a rage. He was already in a desperate
mood, and now he seemed to become furiously insane.
Merriwell was still in the lead, and again swimming. White and panting,
Carter rose to his feet, lifted an oar with both hands and struck at
Frank.
It was a cowardly blow, and brought cries of "Shame!" from those who
witnessed it.
But it did not reach Frank. He dived like a flash, and the oar struck
harmlessly on the water.
When Frank came up, he was seen to be swimming neck and neck with Ward
Hammond, and the goal not a dozen yards away.
Then pandemonium again broke loose on the shore.
Inch by inch, and foot by foot, Frank again drew ahead of his
antagonist. The crowd yelled like mad. A dozen men crowded to the
water's edge to take him by the hand, for they saw that he was to be the
winner.
In vain Ward Hammond threshed and flailed. His wind and strength were
gone.
Merriwell reached the landing three yards in the lead, and was
immediately drawn out on the boards.
Then, all wet as he was, he was hoisted to the shoulders of his
admirers--to the shoulders of men who loved pluck and fair play--and
borne around the boathouse, while they bellowed at the top of their
lungs:
"See, the conquering hero comes!"
After that there were exhibitions of fancy diving and swimming by Frank
Merriwell and others, which were not taken part in by the disgruntled
Hammond, however, and by only a few of his intimate friends.
Thus the swimming ended, to the entire satisfaction of those who had
waited so long and so patiently for its beginning.
"And to-morrow comes that mountain climb," said Merriwell, speaking to
Colson, when they were again in the dressing-room. "I wonder if Hammond
will be as palpitatingly anxious for that as he was for this swim?"