Every eye, every opera glass, was turned on the brightly colored group of riders at the moment they were in line to start.
"They're off! They're starting!" was heard on all sides after the hush of expectation.
And little groups and solitary figures among the public began running from place to place to get a better view.
In the very first minute the close group of horsemen drew out, and it could be seen that they were approaching the stream in twos and threes and one behind another.
To the spectators it seemed as though they had all started simultaneously, but to the racers there were seconds of difference that had great value to them.