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Anglo-American Alliance: A Serio-Comic Romance and Forecast of the Future

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<h2 class="label">CHAPTER VII</h2> <h2 class="main">The Regatta</h2></div> <div class="divBody"> There was still one great event before the closing of the academic year of the Diana Seminary Seniors, in which the class had taken extraordinary interest. It was the first time in the history of the Seminary that students were to take part in aquatic sports against male contestants. The day for the great handicap regatta—a four-oared affair—between the Senior class of the Seminary and the Sophomore class of the West Point Military Academy followed directly after graduation,—the class grade being the handicap allowed to the Seminary girls. Aurora and Margaret, after their avowal and covenant, were again in normal condition, cheerful as of yore, and as they were the most available pair for the aquatic contest, from the beginning they had been chosen unanimously [89]as the exponents of the class of 1960, and they went into the execution of the sport with vim and enthusiasm. As the event was a unique one, it had become the most lively topic of conversation among the people, and long before it took place had caused widespread interest in the country. Having been advertised and exploited extensively in the daily press, it is needless to say that an unusually large concourse of visitors had arrived by land and water to witness the classic and unusual contest. The course of the race was laid near Poughkeepsie and was in the shape of a heart, that is, starting at a given point, side by side, they raced about half a mile abreast, then one crew turning to port and the other to starboard, diverging in a parabolic circle, passed each other in the center within a short distance of the starting point, and making counter-circles started on the home run, again abreast. (See diagram, page 90.) The personnel of the Seminary crew consisted of the following young ladies: Aurora Cunningham, coxswain; Margaret MacDonald, [90]stroke; Horatia Seymour, number one; Eunice Ward, number two; and Norma Southworth at the bow. <div class="figure xd22e1277width" id="p090"><ANTIMG src="images/p090.png" alt="The “Diana” Course." width-obs="238" height-obs="264"> The “Diana” Course. </div> When the preliminary signal to make ready was given, both the crews rowed gracefully to the starting ground and began to manoeuvre. At the sharp report of the signal gun, the two shells shot past the line almost abreast, amidst deafening acclamation from the spectators on the shore and the shrill tooting and whistling [91]of the sailing craft of every description that had formed almost a compact circle around the course. The calm and pleasant weather had allowed the waters of the Hudson to run as smooth as a looking-glass, except for the turbulence caused by the ever restless pleasure boats thronged with sightseers, each endeavoring to get a better vantage point of the impending struggle. As the contest progressed, the interest of the watchers began to increase. Thousands of field and marine glasses and lorgnettes were leveled at the racers as they sped along the course. The teams had now reached the point of divergence, and had begun to recede from each other at every stroke on their parabolic circuit, the boys turning to port and the girls to starboard. But alas! Hardly had the Seminary shell advanced half a dozen strokes when, by some unexpected and inexplicable accident, Margaret’s feet slipped off the foot guard and, in an instant, she was thrown into the waters of the Hudson, the shell meanwhile gliding swiftly by. Instantly the air was filled by a deafening [92]cry of dismay from the throats of thousands of eager spectators, coupled with piercing whistles of the steamboats. What a moment of anguish for the Diana Seminary girls! What a shocking sense of humiliation for the fair contestants! To think that in an event so crucial for their honor and standing, such an unforeseen disaster should overwhelm them! <div class="figure xd22e1296width"><ANTIMG src="images/p092.jpg" alt="On the “Homestretch”" width-obs="366" height-obs="559"> On the “Homestretch” </div> But fate was with them. It was decreed that such a catastrophe should happen in order to heighten the grandeur of their ultimate victory. While the spectators were still paralyzed with the awful situation before them, there was activity and heroism among the Diana mermaids in the shell. The instant Aurora with her alert eyes saw Margaret’s mishap, she realized at once the situation and before the shell had glided past, she leaned over and caught Margaret by the hair. By the same impulsive and almost animal agility, Margaret grasped Aurora’s arm and in another moment, with less loss of time than would seem possible, she was again in the shell. In a twinkling of an eye the breathless girl had resumed her place at the oar as if nothing had happened. Aware of the loss of distance by this untoward [93]accident, which was, in fact, more than four boats’ length, but undismayed and as if invigorated by her impromptu bath, in order to recover lost ground Margaret set the pace at a higher speed and forged ahead with might and main. When the throngs on land and water realized what had happened the din of exultation and cheering was beyond description and this did not abate until the race was finished. Overwrought by the sight of this heroic exploit of the girls, men and women had become madly hysterical. When the shells crossed each other at the half-mile stake it was seen that the Seminary girls had recovered considerable ground, leaving a margin of less than two boats’ length. Encouraged by the splendid showing made, and goaded to endeavor by the rapturous applause of the populace, Margaret and the rest of the crew seemed to gain new strength. And when Aurora with the megaphone gave the order of thirty-six strokes a minute, they set the pace with marvelous vigor and precision, causing consternation among their masculine antagonists. On the completion of the second parabola of their circuit and when coming on to the [94]line for the homestretch, it was noticeable that the Seminary shell was only a trifle behind. The crucial moment had come. They were now almost abreast on the homestretch. The intensity of the exciting scene had for a moment cast a profound silence upon the spectators. Every one was straining his eyes and neck to see the momentous finish, only to break again into a bedlam of rapturous shouting when the girls were seen to be in the lead. It was indeed a sight never to be forgotten, when the Seminary shell shot past the finish line a full boat’s length ahead, and the girls were acclaimed by the populace as victors. <div class="figure xd22e1315width"><ANTIMG src="images/p094.jpg" alt="The Winning Crew" width-obs="313" height-obs="388"> The Winning Crew </div> The intensity of the joy of the throng, and the plight of their utter abandon, can be conjectured when it was discovered afterwards that eight hundred and ninety-one ladies’ and two thousand three hundred and seventy-nine gentlemen’s head-gear were picked up in the Hudson. The next day and through the week following, divers reaped a good harvest by bringing up from the river’s bed one thousand three hundred and ninety-four field, marine and opera glasses, and two hundred and seventy-five lorgnettes, besides innumerable parasols [95]and canes which the people in their abandon had thrown about. This episode was the crowning glory of the Seminary and the beginning of a new epoch in the history of this institution. [96] </div> </div> <div id="ch8" class="div1 chapter">[Contents] <div class="divHead"> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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