“Ferris is in the lead!”
“Darry Ford has jumped to second place! Jackson is third.”
“Hullo, Harry Parsons has taken a tumble! There goes Wilson ahead of him!”
It was true, Harry had stumbled over a loose stick. But he was up in a moment. Then he rounded the rock, and, fifth in the race, started on the home-stretch.
CHAPTER XXII
WHO WAS THE WINNER?
It must be acknowledged that the pace was now beginning to tell upon all in the race. On even ground it would not have been so trying, but it took wind, and plenty of it, to clear some of the rocks, gullies, and fallen logs that marked the novel racecourse.
One racer was out of it entirely, having sprained his foot by an unlucky slip on a rock, and another dropped so far behind that he soon after gave up entirely.
This left five, and of these Harry was the last as the halfway rock was rounded and the racers sped for the finishing line.
But Wilson, the man who had leaped to fourth place, could not keep the pace set for him, and soon he, too, dropped behind and out, thus making Harry fourth, with Ferris first, Darry Ford second, and Jackson third.
This position was maintained until the runners were not over a quarter of a mile from the goal. Then it was seen that Jackson could no longer keep up with the others. He leaped a log, slipped, and sat squarely on the ground.