Bert Wilson, Marathon Winner Part 10

"I'd seen him run several times, and once or twice when I'd brought him a drink o' water, or somethin' like that, he'd grin at me an' give me a pleasant word or two. So I had a likin' for him, and was minded to put him wise.

"So the first chance I got I sidled up to him and tipped him off that this Castle feller was a 'profesh.' He gives a long whistle, and looks pretty much surprised, naturally. But he was game, clear through, and he says to me, 'Well, kid, I don't care if he is a professional. I'm as good a man as he is, and I think I can beat him, anyway. It's the only chance I have, because I'm not going to squeal to the officials.'

"Well, I liked him all the more for that, and o' course wished him all kinds o' luck. Me heart was heavy fer him, though, for I didn't think he would get a look-in.

"By now the time had come fer the lads to line up, and they all filed out o' the club house, as sober as so many deacons. The starter got them in position, and everythin' was ready fer the event. There were five starters, and each one looked to have a chance to the finish.

"'Get on your mark! Get set!' yelled the starter, and pointed his little pistol up in the air. Crack! she went, and the lads were off in a bunch, runnin' as though the old Nick were after thim.

"This 'ringer' chap was up to all the tricks of the trade, howiver, and had 'beat this pistol' by the shade of an eyelash. He had a five-foot lead on young Sidney before they'd gone eight yards, and that's an awful lot in a hundred-yard sprint. 'Good-night,' thinks I to meself, 'the ringer's won the race already,' and the thought made me far from happy, as ye may aisily imagine.

"But the old boy himself seemed to be in young Sidney, and before I knew it my heart was in me mouth and I was almost yelling me lungs out rootin' for him.

"He raced along in great bounds, and it seemed to me as though each stride covered ten feet. By the time they'd made half the distance he was right up to the 'ringer's' shoulder, and seemed to be goin' faster each second.

"Smith (or Castle, whichever you choose to call him) gave a glance back, and let out every bit o' speed in him. For a second he drew away from the kid, and I was almost ready to cry, I was so disappointed.

"But Sidney was not the bye to be left behind, and he put on full steam, so to speak. By now everybody that was watchin' the race was standin' on their ears with excitement, and when at the seventy-five-yard mark Sidney drew right abreast of this Smith chap I thought the whole field would go wild. Pretty women an' girls waved their parasols and shrieked at the top o' their lungs, and as fer the men--well, they just went plumb batty.

"The other entries were practically out of the race now, and were plugging along far in the rear. The two leaders. .h.i.t it up faster an'

faster, till they were fairly flying. For all he was a 'ringer,' the Smith chap was game, and did his best, I'll say that for him. But young Sidney was a regular cyclone that day, and on the last ten yards jumped ahead as though the other fellow were standing still. It seemed to me he cleared the last fifteen feet in one jump, and I'll swear he was in the air when his breast broke the ribbon.

"He'd won the race, all right, but he didn't hear the applause that pretty nearly split the sky in two. He just crumpled up like a wet rag, and it was pretty near ten minutes before we could bring him to.

"When he did finally open his eyes, he happened to look at me first, and he grinned weakly, 'Well, Red, we trimmed the "ringer" good and plenty, you and I, didn't we?' and he actually shook hands with me.

"Believe me, boys, I was the happiest kid in the State that day, bar none."

Here Reddy stopped speaking, and gazed ruminatively out over the ocean, with what looked like a mist in his blue eyes.

After the athletes had discussed this story in all its details, Bert asked, "But what became of the 'ringer,' Reddy? What did they do to him?"

"Oh, there was nothing much we could do," replied the trainer, "but, believe me, it was an awful knock to the college that put him up to it, and I don't think they tried that trick for many a long day afterward.

Believe me, lads, crookedness doesn't pay, in sport or in anything else."

CHAPTER XI

A MONSTER PERIL

The good s.h.i.+p _Northland_ had been traveling at reduced speed several hours, and Bert, who was always intensely interested in the operation of the vessel, was quick to notice this. At supper time the speed had not increased, and accordingly Bert took the first opportunity that presented itself to ask the captain respectfully the reason for this.

"Why, it's this way," he was told, "we've been receiving wireless messages recently that there is considerable ice in these waters, and we're going slowly in consequence. Of course, at this time of the year, we oughtn't to have to bother about icebergs at all, but the last winter was very long and cold, and this is the result."

"Oh, I see," said Bert; "but how do you know when you're in the neighborhood of an iceberg? I should imagine it would be a rather hard object to make out."

"No, you're wrong there," responded the captain. "They are very easy to see, as they emit a pale sort of glimmer that makes them very prominent at night. Of course, you never have any difficulty locating them in the daytime, fortunately. And then there's another thing: they always chill the air for a considerable distance around them, and any sailor can tell what is threatening his s.h.i.+p when he feels this. Oh, no, they are easy enough to avoid, as a rule. Of course, sometimes a vessel running at high speed will not get warning of the presence of the menace until it is too late, as in a fog, for instance. In that case there is generally a report of another wreck in the morning papers a few days afterward."

"But I should think there would be a way of detecting them by means of some instrument, say, for example, with an ordinary thermometer," said Bert.

"Well, devices of that kind have been invented and used," replied Captain Everett, "but in these days of high speed the warning generally comes too late, unless the s.h.i.+p is steaming at a very slow pace."

"Well, then, science has been able to find nothing that is much better than the old method of a watch up in the crow's nest. Is that the idea?"

questioned Bert, in a disappointed tone. He had great faith in the ability of mechanical science to solve every problem under the sun, and accordingly he was incredulous on this point.

"So far that is true," said the captain; "but a device has recently been patented that seems to fill the bill perfectly, as far as I can see."

"How does that work?" queried Bert.

"Well, to explain it, you would have to have a rather exhaustive knowledge of icebergs and their habits," said the captain, smiling; "however, I will do my best to make it clear to you. You see, an iceberg, being so much colder than the surrounding water, sets up a series of currents in the ocean, that are felt for a considerable distance. The warmer water flows toward the 'berg, and the colder water away, just as in the air the warmer air will rise and the colder air rush in to take its place. Is that plain?"

"Oh, certainly, I can understand how that works, all right," replied Bert.

"Well, in that case, you can see how simple the rest is," said the captain. "All you have to do is construct an instrument that will be affected by these currents, and your problem is solved. Of course that is a comparatively simple matter, and the writer of the article I read claimed to have done it. His theory seemed very plausible to me, and I would be very little surprised to see every s.h.i.+p equipped with his device in the near future."

"It certainly seems feasible," agreed Bert, "in fact, it seems so simple that it's queer someone has not thought of it before."

"Oh, there's nothing surprising in that, to my way of thinking," said Captain Everett. "Many of our greatest inventions, or rather their principles, existed long before they were put to practical use. Take steam, for example. Steam has existed from the beginning of the world, with all its power and possibilities, yet it is not until a comparatively recent date that it has been harnessed and put to work.

It's the same way with electricity, or any of a thousand things you could think of."

"Yes, there's no doubt but what you're right," admitted Bert, "but just the same, it seems too bad they couldn't have been discovered sooner.

Look at the _t.i.tanic_ disaster, for instance. If they had had that device that you were just telling me about installed, the whole tragedy could probably have been avoided, and the world been spared a horrible disaster."

"It certainly does seem a pity," agreed the captain, "but then, if everything had been discovered right off, there would have been nothing left for you or me to invent, and the world would have no work left for anyone to do. There seems to be a great plan back of these things, after all."

"It's too bad we haven't something of the kind on board now," said Bert. "It might come in handy."

"I wouldn't be a bit surprised," said Captain Everett, with a worried air. "I hate to lose valuable time crawling along at this pace, but of course anything is better than what might happen if we didn't. I don't want to cheat old Uncle Sam out of a victory by drowning all his athletes," and here he smiled.

"Oh, it would be a terrible loss," agreed Bert, slyly, "specially that of yours truly. That would indeed be an irreparable calamity."

"Oh, of course, of course," laughed the captain. "That goes without saying, Wilson."

At this point Reddy strolled up, and joined in the conversation. His thoughts, however, dwelt more with perfecting a certain crowd of athletes for the coming Olympic games than with inventions to warn s.h.i.+ps of their peril, or any other kind.

After a time the captain asked Reddy how his charges were coming along.

"Oh, as well as could be expected, I suppose," growled the trainer.

Secretly he was more than satisfied with their condition, but would have died rather than admit it. "They seem more inclined to exercise their jaw muscles than anything else, but otherwise they're not so awful bad."

"That's rather negative praise," laughed Bert, "but we know very well that if we weren't all right Reddy would be exercising his 'jaw muscles'

more than he does, so we have to be satisfied with that."

Reddy grinned, but made no reply, and shortly afterward sauntered off.

After a little further conversation with the captain, Bert followed suit, and strolled up into the bows, where a man was on lookout.