Besides, she was
leading them all. With this thought she put the remainder of her waning
strength into a few last desperate strokes.
Meanwhile, the boys had caught up with Mollie, and seeing this she
quickened her stroke, forging ahead again. But Betty kept the same calm,
steady stroke which had so deceived the boys--and the girls, too, for
that matter, with the exception of Mollie.
On, on they came--almost abreast now. The boys, tired from the long
chase, were resting, gathering strength for the last spurt.
The finish line had been very conveniently marked by a slender tree
which had evidently been torn down in some terrific storm and now lay
half on the shore and half upon the water. This, then, was their goal.
Conway was the first to see them coming. "Look, Nita!" he cried, seizing
his sister's arm and drawing her to the edge of the water. "From the way
they are all lined up I should judge this is nobody's race yet. That's
the kind of a thing I enjoy--where there is occupation at the end. And
look----"
"Look at Betty," cried Anita, interrupting him. "She can swim better
than I can, and I thought I was pretty good.
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