The Alleys wore bright red bathing caps, the Avenues blue; otherwise they wore the regulation Camp bathing suits, all alike.  First on the program came the demonstrations—­canoe tipping, rescuing a drowning person, resuscitation.  Sahwah won the canoe tipping contest, getting her canoe righted in one minute less time than it took Undine Girelle, so the first score went to the Alley.  The Avenue had a speedy revenge, however, for Undine took first honors in the diving exhibition which followed immediately after.  Even the Winnebagos, disappointed as they were that Sahwah had not won out, admitted that Undine’s performance was unequalled, and joined heartily in the cheers that greeted the announcement of her winning.  In the smaller contests the Avenue and the Alley were pretty well matched, and at the end of the swimming and small canoe races the score was tied between them.  This left the war canoe race, which counted ten points, to decide the championship.

A round of applause greeted the two crews as they marched out on the dock to the music of the Camp band and took their places in the war canoes.  Sahwah was Captain of the Dolphins, the Alley crew; Undine commanded the Avenue Turtles.  Agony was stern paddler of the Dolphin, the most important position next to the Captain.  Prominence had come to her in many ways since she had become the camp heroine; positions of trust and honor fell to her thick and fast without her making any special efforts to get them.  If nothing succeeds like success it is equally true that nothing brings honor like honor already achieved.  To her who hath shall be given.

Besides Sahwah and Agony the Dolphin crew consisted of Hinpoha, Migwan, Gladys, Katherine, Jo Severance, Jean Lawrence, Bengal Virden, Oh-Pshaw, and two girls from Aloha, Edith Anderson and Jerry Mortimer, a crew picked after severe tests which eliminated all but the most expert paddlers.  That the Winnebagos had all passed the test was a matter of considerable pride to them, and also to Nyoda, to whom they had promptly written the good news.

“I am not surprised, though,” she had written in return.  “I am never surprised at anything my girls accomplish.  I always expect you to do things—­and you do them.”

Quickly the two Captains brought their canoes out to the starting line and sat waiting for the shot from the starter’s pistol.  The command “Paddles Up!” had been given, and twenty-four broad yellow blades were poised stiffly in air, ready for the plunge into the shining water below.  A hush fell upon the watching crowd; the silence was so intense that the song of a bird on the roof of Mateka could be plainly heard.  A smile came to Sahwah’s lips as she heard the joyous thrill of the bird.  An omen of victory, she said to herself.

Then the pistol cracked.  Almost simultaneously with its report came her clear command, “Down paddles!” Twelve paddles dipped as one and the Dolphin shot forward a good five feet on the very first stroke.  The race was on.