Hopeless  though  the  race  seemed,  he  pressed  on,
taking  his  jumps  in  his  best  form,  driving  himself
in  the  inter-hurdles  paces,  as  if  each  were  the  finish
of  the  race.  And  lo !  he  gained !  With  every
hurdle  he  drew  up  on  the  leading  pair.  At  the
eighth  he  was  at  Doane 's  heels.  The  tenth  he
crossed  abreast  of  the  second  man  and  beat  him
out  through  greater  strength  in  the  final  dash  for
the  line,  —  but  Kilham  as  usual  was  first,  this
time  by  only  two  feet.
For  a  time  Sam  was  disheartened.  When  he
compared  the  two  feet  advantage  which  Kilham
had  over  him  at  the  finish  with  the  two  yards  lost
at  the  start,  and  realized  that  he  had  plenty  of
reserve  force  on  the  last  stretch  while  Kilham
was  running  weak,  he  felt  that  fate  was  indeed
against  him.  But  Collins  soon  got  hold  of  him
and  altered  the  hue  of  his  thoughts.  He  had

never  before  been  put  back  in  a  race ;  it  wouldn't

[279]


THE  YALE  CUP

happen  again;  he  had  run  a  yard  farther  than
the  victor  and  finished  but  two  feet  behind  him.
