Bill Dixon was in the lead, and for a while it looked as if he would stay there. He kept crawling away from all of the others, and at length had left them pretty much behind. But now Andy showed of what metal he was made. With a spurt he swept by the two ahead of him, and dashed on close at Bill Dixon’s heels. “What did I tell you!” cried Harry. “Go in, Andy, and win!” Dixon heard the cry, and looked over his shoulder. There was yet almost a half mile to skate, and he was nearly winded. He felt that Andy would pass him, try his best to keep up the pace. He slowed up, and put out one foot, intending thereby to trip Andy up. But the young contestant saw it just in time, and, with a nimble leap, he cleared the obstruction, and went sailing on, winner by ten yards, while Dixon came in third, the boy behind Andy managing to come up before Dixon could regain his lost headway. Andy would have reported Dixon for his evil intention; but, as he had won the race, he said nothing; still, the look he gave the bully’s toady made that individual sneak out of sight in short order. And now it was time for the five-mile race, the greatest of the day. It must be confessed that both Harry’s heart and Jack’s beat rapidly as they took their places in line with Sully and Milne. The race was to be two and a half miles up the river, and the same distance back. A skater with a big white flag marked the turning point. “Are you all ready boys?” questioned old Mr. Grimes, who conducted the races personally. “Every skate in good order and properly fastened on?” “Yes, sir,” came first from one and then another. “Then, go! And good luck go with you!” They were off, side by side, not a single one a foot ahead or behind. It was undoubtedly the best start of the day. “Now show ’em what you can do, Sully!” “Shake ’em up, Milne!” “Strike out faster, Harry!” “There goes Jack Bascoe ahead!” The last cry proved true. Jack had made a splurge, and was now nearly a yard ahead of the other three, who, at the end of the first mile, were still closely bunched. Then Milne put on steam and went ahead for fully a mile, with Jack behind him, and Harry and Sully side by side in the rear. But the dude of the town could not keep up the pressure, and suddenly, long before the turning point was reached, he collapsed and dropped behind and out of the race entirely. “Only three now!” “And Jack Bascoe still in the lead!” “Sully is crawling up to him!” It was true. Pete Sully’s long legs were working with wonderful rapidity, and he was slowly forging ahead of Harry, despite the other’s apparent best efforts to keep up. “Jack’s going to win that race!” cried Andy, with pardonable pride. “It certainly looks so,” returned Boxy. “Well, he deserves it, although I kind of hoped Harry would get that prize and be able to turn it into money.” “Jack said he would lend Harry the money if he won the medal,” said Andy. “He said it just before they started.”