right, and you must keep to the right of the path on returning, so that you won't run into anybody. The first to reach this mark on the return wins the race. Do you understand?"
The runners said that they did.
"Very well then. Get ready. Go!"
Away piled the boys in a line that did not break for several yards. Then Sam Rover shot ahead, followed by Flapp and two cadets named Pigley and Franell.
"There they go!" was the shout.
"Leg it, Sam!" yelled Tom. "Leg it, old man!"
"Go it, Flapp! Don't let them win this race!"
"It's yours if you want it, Franell!"
"Remember bow you won the race at Ithaca, Pigley!"
So the cries went on, while the outsiders cheered for nobody in particular.
"Oh, I hope that Rover boy wins," said Alice Staton to her sister.
"So do I," answered Helen.
"By Jove, but I think I'll rest a bit!" panted William Philander Tubbs, after running a couple of hundred yards, and he sat down on the grass, while the crowd laughed at him.
Sam was keeping the lead in good shape, al-
