“Certainly I am,” answered Tom. “We all are, and we’re going to do the best we can to beat them, too. Didn’t you tell us no longer ago than yesterday that you wished we would come into the club and make Joe Wayring lower his broad pennant for a while?” he added, turning to Prime.
“I did; but I have had opportunity to talk the matter over with my friends since then, and we have decided that those who have worked so long and so hard for the prizes, ought to have them in preference to any new-comers.”
“All right,” said Tom, silencing by a look the words of indignant protest that arose to Ralph’s lips and Loren’s. “Who comes in for the paddle race?”
“And who is put down for the upset race?” continued Tom.
Bob Lord said that he was; and a young fellow named Scott volunteered the information that his friends had decided that he ought to be allowed to win the portage race, because he came so near winning it fairly the year before.
“Then it seems that my cousins and I are to be left out in the cold,” observed Tom, who was mad enough to break things.
“By no means,” some of the boys hastened to explain. “There are some handsome prizes offered for the sailing races, and we intend that you shall win them if we can make you do it.”
“Don’t want ’em,” said Tom, gruffly. “Couldn’t enter for them if we did.”
“Because we bought our canoes for exploring purposes, and not for sailing. We received such contradictory advice from those to whom we applied for information, that it was all we could do to make up our minds what kind of canoes to get; and when it came to the sails, we thought we would let them go until we could decide upon the style of rig we needed without asking any one’s advice. We may make up our minds that we don’t want any sails at all.”
“Oh, you mustn’t do that,” exclaimed Noble, “for if you do you will lose half the sport of canoeing. By the way, the club meets Saturday evening, and if you say so, I will take in your names.”
“I am obliged to you,” replied Tom. “But we had about half agreed with Wayring and Hastings to propose us for membership.”
Ralph and Loren were greatly astonished, and Prime and his friends saw that they were.
“I am sorry you did that,” said Noble. “Every one of us here present has pledged himself not to vote for any thing brought forward by Wayring and his crowd.”