Parkhurst Boys | Page 9

but this was the

first I had ever heard of my being selected to take his place. True, I had
steered the boat occasionally when no one else could be got, and on
such occasions had managed to keep a moderately good course up the
Two Mile Reach, but I had never dreamed of such a pitch of good
fortune as being called to occupy that seat as a fixture.
But now it wanted only a week of the great race with the Old Boys, and
here was I summoned to take charge of the rudder at the eleventh hour,
which of course meant I would have to steer the boat on the occasion of
the race! No wonder, then, I was half daft with excitement as I hurried
down to the boathouse in obedience to the summons of Blades, the
stroke of the Parkhurst Four.
I should explain that at Parkhurst we were peculiarly favoured in the
matter of boating. The River Colven flowed through the town only half
a mile from the school boundaries, and being at that place but a short
distance from the sea, it was some fifty yards broad, a clear, deep
stream, just the sort of water one would choose for rowing. There was
no lock for six miles or so up, and the few craft which came in from the
sea rarely proceeded beyond Parkhurst; so that we had a long,
uninterrupted stretch of water for our boats, which, as soon as ever the
spring set in, and the weather became too hot for football and hare and
hounds, appeared in force every half-holiday on its surface.
Some of the fellows on such occasions used to amuse themselves by
starting off for a long, leisurely grind up-stream; or else with set sail to
tack down the lower reaches towards the sea; but most of us who laid
claim in any degree to the name of enthusiastic oarsmen, confined our
operations mainly to the Two Mile Reach, on which most of the club
races were rowed, chief of which was the Old Boys' Race, already
referred to.
This race had been instituted some years before my time at the school,
by an old Parkhurstian, who presented a cup, to be rowed for annually,
between the best four-oared crew of the present school, and any crew of
old pupils who had been at Parkhurst within two years.
This race was the all-absorbing topic in our boat-club for several weeks

before the event. How carefully the crew were selected, how strictly
they trained, how patiently Mr Blunt, one of the masters, and an old
Cambridge oar, "coached" or tutored them; how regularly the boat went
over the course morning after morning, before breakfast; how eagerly
the fellows criticised or commended the rowers; how impatiently we all
looked forward to the coming contest!
This year our prospects were doubtful. The Old Boys had got together a
strong crew, who were reported by some who had been over to see
them to be very fast, and in splendid form; while we, at the last moment,
had had the disadvantage to lose our coxswain and have to fill his place
with a less experienced hand. Still, the school "four" was a good one,
carefully drilled, with plenty of power; one which Mr Blunt
pronounced ought to hold its own with any other average crew. So, on
the whole, there was no saying how the chances stood.
I found I had all my work before me to get accustomed to my new
duties before the day of the race. Daily I was out with the four, and
several times besides I was taken over the course in a punt, and
carefully shown all the shallows, and bends, and eddies of the stream,
and made familiar with the ins and outs of either bank.
Luckily, I was a light weight to begin with, so that I did not lose much
by my limited period of training, being indeed not so heavy as the
former coxswain of the boat, whom I had succeeded.
Well, the eventful day came at last. The Old Boys arrived the day
before, and from the two trial rows which they took over the course, we
could see they were a first-rate crew and formidable opponents. Still
our "coach," who had watched them minutely, told us we had the better
stroke of the two, and if we could only hold out, ought to win after all.
This was comforting information, for the showy style of our opponents
had struck terror into not a few of those whose sympathies were on the
side of the present boys.
The school turned out in force to witness the event. The towing-path
was lined with spectators, many of them from a distance, attracted by