They were rowdies of Welch's house, and he groaned inwardly at the prospect before him.

The boy steering was our old acquaintance Pilbury, and as his boat approached he shouted out cheerily, "Hullo, there, Parson! mind your eye! We'll race you in--give you ten yards and bump you in twenty! Pull away, you fellows! One, two, three, gun! Off you go! Oh, well rowed, my boat! Now you've got him! Wire in, now! Smash him up! scrunch him into the bank! Hooroo! two to one on us! Lay on to it, you fellows; he can't go straight! Six more strokes and you're into him! One, two, three--ha, ha! he's funking it!--four, five--now a good one for the last--six! Hooroo! bump to us! Welch's for ever!" So saying, the hostile boat came full tilt on to the stern of the Parrett's tub, and the outraged Parson found himself next moment sprawling on his back, with the nose of his boat firmly wedged into the clay bank of the river, while his insulting adversaries sped gaily away down stream, making the morning hideous with their shouts and laughter.
This little incident, as may be supposed, did not tend to compose the fluttered spirits of the unhappy Frederick.

To say nothing of the indignity of being deliberately run down and screwed into the bank by a crew of young "Welchers," the loss of time involved in extricating his boat from the muddy obstacle which held her by the nose, put all chance of getting in in time to go round to Chalker's before chapel out of the question.

Indeed, it looked very like a shut-out from chapel too, and that meant no end of a row.
By a super-human effort he got his boat clear, and sculled down hard all, reaching the boat-house at seven minutes to eight.

He had just presence of mind enough to shout the message for Chalker to the boat- boy, with a promise of twopence if he delivered it at once; and then with a desperate rush he just succeeded in reaching the chapel and squeezing himself in at the door as the bell ceased ringing.
Chapel was not, under the circumstances, a very edifying service to Parson that morning.