A moment later the pistol shot rang out. There was a splash of paddles–even a clash of them, for some of the girls were too near each other and too eager.
The spectators cheered–the boys from Gannet Island doing especially well in that line. They were determined to root indiscriminately for the girls of Green Knoll Camp.
But within a very few minutes Dave Shepard shouted to his friends:
“Look what’s coming up, fellows! See Polly!”
“Polly Jolly!” yelled the excitable Ferd. “Is that her in the first birchbark?”
“Of course it is,” responded Tubby Blaisdell. “Well! did you ever see a girl like that before? Look at those arms. She’s got better biceps than you have, Dave, m’ boy!”
For the girls were in their bathing dresses and Polly’s bare arms were displayed to the best advantage as she flashed past the motor boat. Her face was set–her eyes bright. And she weaved back and forth as she drove the paddle with the steadiness of a machine.
“Hooray for Polly Jolly!” yelled Ferd Roberts, again.
The Busters took up the chorus. They could not restrain their enthusiasm, for the pace at which Polly was overhauling the cedar boats was really marvelous.
Of course, it was a foregone conclusion that some of the contestants would drop out. These canoes Polly passed as though they were standing still.