On an elevated bank near the finishing point a crowd was seen. The ones assembled there were all aflutter with excitement.
Blue Cove was doing good work. Up beside Alexandria the boat was stealing, and it was plain that a most exciting finish would be made.
The cheering on the launch had ceased. It was keeping near the Yale boat, and, in the midst of his work, Frank heard a familiar voice declaring:
“They can’t win to-day—not much! The race is not over yet!”
Harlow was on the launch.
But it seemed plain enough to everybody that the Yale boat would cross the finish more than two lengths ahead of the others, for it was gaining rapidly now.
The crowd on shore was cheering, and it was a scene of wild excitement.
Suddenly something whizzed through the air and struck the water. Then there was an explosion, and the entire forward end of the Yale boat was blown to pieces!
The boat filled immediately, and the crew was in the water, while the other boats shot past and crossed the line together, it being difficult to tell which was leading.
“One of the greatest races ever rowed on the river,” declared Kent Spencer in the boathouse that evening. “You Yale chaps would have won easily if it hadn’t been for that bomb that ruined your boat. As it was, that put you out of the race, and we got over the finish a little in advance of Alexandria. Blue Cove still holds the championship.”