"Keep her up, Jack!" roared forty boys.
"Go ahead, Dick!" shouted as many more.
Percival had to take to the water a second or two ahead of Jack,
who won the race, much to the delight of all the boys, Dick included.
CHAPTER XVI
THE PRIZES AWARDED
It was the day when the prizes were to be announced in the literary
contest, and all the Hilltop boys were gathered in the pavilion eager
to hear the result of the committee's consultation.
The doctor arose when all were present, and spoke of the contest,
saying that it had brought out the best powers of a number of the
boys and showed that they all had considerable ability when they put
their minds on affair of this sort, and concluding by saying:
"I will now read the poem which I consider the best. In fact, it
is the unanimous opinion of the committee that it is."
Thereupon the doctor began to read the opening lines of the poem,
which were as follows:
"_From the hills of the beautiful Hudson,
Rendered sacred by patriot blood,
Come to us most inspiring traditions,
Swelling on in a glorious flood._"
"_The mighty achievements of Clinton,
Of brave Putnam and---"_
Here Pete Herring suddenly jumped on his feet, and waving a paper
in his hand, cried excitedly:
"That's plagiarism! That thing was not written by any of the
Hilltop boys.
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