CHAPTER XXIII THE CANOE RACE. It was the week of the annual muster of the Grand Army at Camp Benson, on Lake Sebasticook. Every cottage was occupied and a large number of tents were pitched. Gray-headed veterans, heroes of the war, had gathered there from all over the State of Maine. Every day there were parades, a band concert, and a dance in the large hall that had been built for that purpose. The cottages and tents were decorated with bunting and flags. Yellow-eyed beans, baked in a “bean hole,” were on every bill of fare. Excursion trains stopped at the little platform station, bringing large numbers of visitors from Pittsfield, Newport, Corinna, Dexter and other towns. The lake steamer was making regular trips between the camp and Newport, and crowds came to the grounds in teams, on foot and on bicycles. Each day in the afternoon there was a ball game and other sports of a nature to interest all. The band played “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Marching Through Georgia,” “Yankee Doodle,” and other patriotic airs. The old vets got together and fought over the battles of long ago. Hundreds of young people flocked to the ground and enjoyed the pleasures of the occasion. The country girls were red-cheeked and pretty, and the country lads were sturdy, manly-looking young fellows, such as make the best soldiers when in time of trouble the country calls her loyal sons to arms. Not a few fashionable people visited Camp Benson and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. They were not all countrymen there. Merriwell and his friends had heard there was “fun” at Camp Benson, and that was one reason why they stopped at Lake Sebasticook. They had not been able to hire a cottage anywhere near the camp, and so they took the one on Sandy Point, although it was several miles away. Hearing there were to be canoe races at the camp, Frank looked about to obtain some canoes, and he was fortunate enough to secure four, although he was forced to pay an exorbitant price for the use of them that week. Three of them were single canoes, for racing purposes. The fourth was the birch in which Merry and Hodge had gone out fishing. On the following day Frank’s entire party was at Camp Benson, for this afternoon the canoe races were to take place. Merry, Hodge and Diamond had resolved to enter the races. First, however, there was a sailing race, and this they did not enter. They took pains to get into the following race. There were nine starters, of which our friends made three. Two were from Newport, one from Pittsfield, one from Corinna, one from Foxcroft and one from Greenville, on Moosehead Lake. It was generally believed that the Greenville man would win, although it was said that Jim Welch, of Newport, would give him a hot pull. The race was set to take place at three o’clock in the afternoon, but it was twenty minutes later when all the contestants lined up at the starting point.