Pagina 547 de 2288

Three times they were ranged ready to start, but each time some

horse thrust itself out of line, and they had to begin again. The

umpire who was starting them, Colonel Sestrin, was beginning to

lose his temper, when at last for the fourth time he shouted

"Away!" and the racers started.

Every eye, every opera-glass, was turned on the brightly colored

group of riders at the moment they were in line to start.

"They're off! They're starting!" was heard on all sides after the

hush of expectation.

And little groups and solitary figures among the public began

running from place to place to get a better view. In the very

first minute the close group of horsemen drew out, and it could

be seen that they were approaching the stream in twos and threes

and one behind another. To the spectators it seemed as though

they had all started simultaneously, but to the racers there were

seconds of difference that had great value to them.