The boys of Lafayette and Onativia had one advantage, for they did not have to drag their heavy bob up the hill for the start, as the Cardiff crew did. But for this race, at least, that labor was saved Adrian and his chums, for Mr. Kimball got out his team of horses, hitched them to the big sled, and the animals, which were sharp-shod, easily dragged the racer up the two-mile incline, for which aid the boys were very thankful. The Cardiff crew, at the head of which marched Adrian and Roger, followed the team, walking leisurely along and keeping a sharp watch that the bob came to no mishap. All but two of the boys would be merely passengers, for to manage the affair only a pair of steersmen were needed, the others being there simply to give weight and to make the contest more interesting and exciting. With the Cardiff crew marched a crowd of youngsters from the village. They knew they must miss the thrilling finish of the race if they went to the top of the hill, but they wanted to lend the fellowship of their presence to the tail-enders of the series of contests, much the same as a crowd of "rooters" accompany their favorite nine or eleven. Besides, the Cardiff crew was going into a sort of hostile country and would need some support. When the delegation marching with Adrian reached the top of the hill they found themselves the centre of a throng of perhaps two hundred people, mostly boys, though there were a goodly number of young men, and even some graybeards who still felt the joys of youth in their blood. The Onativia crew was surrounded by their friends, and the Lafayette contenders by theirs, and though the Cardiff organization was greatly outnumbered, they did not feel at all disheartened when they saw how confident their captain was. Scores of spectators and several members of the rival crews crowded about Adrian's bob, and the two steering-wheels at once attracted attention. There were dozens of questions about the second wheel, to all of which Adrian, as well as his followers, returned polite but evasive answers. "Mebby th' Cardiff boys calalate on slidin' back'ards 's well 's for'ards," commented a Lafayette supporter. "Thet seems t' be their fav'rite mode a' locomotion, jedgin' from th' last two trys." A hot reply for this taunt was on Adrian's lips, but he checked himself. It would not do to boast of his plan, for it was yet untried, and he could not say what would be the outcome. So he merely motioned for his crew to keep near him, and answered nothing to the laugh that went up at the attempted wit of the Lafayette young man. Adrian took his cousin to one side. "I haven't said much to you, Roger, about making this trip," he said, "but I want you to go along with me. You're not afraid, are you?"