None of the other eight in the race seemed likely to do anything effective.
"A little more steam, Ben!" "Stearns, you can get it!" In the last eighth of the distance Stearns made good.

Summoning all his football wind and speed the little right end closed and shot ahead.

Not once in the remainder of the course did Ben Badger quite catch up with his smaller opponent.

Stearns won by some fifteen yards.
The racers came slowly back, breathing harder than usual.

As soon as jovial Ben felt equal to the task of further announcing, he picked up the megaphone, shouting: "As I didn't win, all the further events are postponed!" There was stupefied silence for a few moments.