The Third Prize (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: A. E. Coppard
- First Published: 1928
- Type of Plot: Realism
- Time of Work: The late 1890's
- Setting: A medium-sized English town
- Principal Characters: George Robins, Naboth Bird, Jerry Chambers
- Genres: Realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Ethics, Athletes, Horror, Festivals, Running, Track athletics
- Locales: England
The Story
George Robins and Naboth Bird are young men for whom footracing is “their pastime, their passion, their principal absorption and topic of conversation”; although neither is a champion runner, each occasionally wins “some sort of trophy.”
On an August bank holiday, they go to a garrison town on the coast of England, where the holiday is being celebrated with a carnival of games. The crowd attending includes a medley of soldiers, sailors, most of the population of the town, and a number of blind beggars. The young men meet two girls who have come from...
[The entire page is 1441 words long]
