In this race three a side were entered, and of our three we knew no one in the school who could beat Halley at a hundred yards.

It was rumoured, indeed, that Payne, one of the three "sixers," had been doing very well in training, but the reports of him were not sufficiently decided to shake our faith in our own hero.
It was an anxious moment as they stood there waiting for the doctor's signal.

If only we could win this race, we should have our two races out of the three in hand without further combat.
"Go!" cried the doctor; and at the word six youthful forms plunge into the water, and for a second are lost to sight.

But the moral of the half-mile race has evidently been taken to heart by these six boys.
They waste neither time nor wind under the surface, but rising quickly, dash to their work.

After the first few strokes Payne showed in front, greatly to the delight of the "sixers," who felt that everything depended on their man.