As for the striving contestants they were too intent upon the race to
perceive the strange turn of affairs until the wild mirth upon the
"mainland" apprised them of it. They must have looked funny enough
from the shore frantically pursuing the fugitive turning post, and the
unhallowed joy of the spectators was only increased by Pee-wee's heroic
efforts in the emergency as with a long pole he strove to stay the
progress of the recreant island. Failing in these herculean efforts,
he still tried to save the day by shouting to the racers.
"_Keep up_! _Keep up_!" he yelled. "You can go around it. You're
going faster than the island is. _Don't give up_! It makes it all the
more exciting. It's like--like--like--kind of--like running up an
escalator! Don't stop! Keep it up, it's an escalator race!"
It certainly made it "all the more exciting." As for the inhabitants
of the island, they were carried away in more than one sense. Townsend
lay flat upon the ground in a spasm of silent laughter. Several others
of the new Alligator Patrol sat on the edge of the stern and rock-bound
coast, their legs dangling in the water, and seemed in danger of
falling in, so gymnastic was their merriment. As for the occupants or
the grandstand, they probably thought (if they were able to think at
all) that ten cents was a small price to pay for such an exciting race.
Only one occupant of the fleeing island was up and about and fully
conscious.
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