"Don't waste a second, Jack!" protested the magnate. "Do the best you can. You have the inside track, and you ought to beat them with half a crew."
Woodhorn gave the order to give way, and the eight rowers in his boat were soon pulling with all their might. The Racer followed her, and, having ten oars, she passed her. It looked like a race between the two schools, though it was a very unequal one. The Chesterfield students had improved in rowing a great deal since the last season, but discipline was still the wanting element in their organization, and though they had never measured speed with the Beech Hill boats, they were no match for them.
The boys from the other side did not seem to hurry themselves, but only pulled a steady and strong stroke. In five minutes it was clear enough that they were beating their opponents. The magnate urged the Chesterfields to greater exertion, and did more harm than good by his ill-timed interference.
Dory had shaken out the reef in the Silver Moon, and made an additional change in the ballast, so that she was now behaving remarkably well. Bissell had run over to the north side of the bay, and now had a slant which would carry him to the mouth of the creek. Oscar Chester had kept his gaze fixed on the party on the shore. He saw the six ruffians, and recognized Paul Bristol with his arms still bound behind him. The four-oar boat lay at the mouth of the creek, but the six ruffians had retreated to the high ground in the rear of the landing.
The approach of the three Beech Hill barges had completely upset the calculations of the ruffians. They stood looking down upon the lake, and appeared to be entirely non-plussed. The Gildrock was bearing towards the Westport side of the bay, and was coming between the shore and the Chesterfield barges. It was plainly folly to put the prisoner into the boat that had come for him. In the barges there were thirty-five Beech Hillers, and only twenty belonging to the institute. Besides, the boats from the other side had always been victorious over their own.
The Gildrock came to a stand, with the crew lying on their oars, and the other two barges followed her example at the order of the commodore. If the Chesterfields advanced, they would have to break their way through the Beech Hill line of boats. Jack Woodhorn ordered a halt before he came up with the formidable line in front of him. Colonel Buckmill, the principal, who was not present, had told the students of the institute never to come in collision with any of the boats from the other side, and the coxswains were disposed to obey their orders, especially as all the chances were against them.
"What are you stopping for, Jack Woodhorn?" demanded Major Billcord, when the oarsmen in the Dasher brought their blades to a level.
"We can go no farther without running into those barges," replied the coxswain.
"Run into them, then! Smash them if they don't get out of your way. Are you afraid of those chip-makers?" blustered the magnate.