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Rh think you can back me up in it. Thirty-eight to the minute to begin with, and never lower  than thirty-six.”

“That’s all right,” said Edward.

It was not altogether a surprise to him, the announcement of these tactics; in the last week  of practice Durant had been testing his crew  pretty severely, and they were all hoping that  he would let them attempt this very thing;  they were all confident of their strength and of  their ability to row St. John’s down. Whereas, if they did not take the aggressive at the  outset and maintain it, but let their opponents  set the pace, they might not have at the end  the sprinting power of the lighter and—from  what news had come to them—the more finished crew. So now that the word was passed round that it was to be a row-down from the  start, they were all elated.

“Besides,” said Davis, pointing to the trees which were swaying in the wind, “it looks  like St. Timothy’s weather.”

“Yes,” said Durant. “A little rough water will be a good thing.”