"Oh, it is wonderful!" cried Amy. "Look how far we are behind. Let's see if we can't catch up with them." And they started off with a will after their deserting comrades.
It was not long before the powerful strokes of the boys brought them up beside Mollie and Betty who were swimming easily.
"Hello, runaways," was Frank's greeting, turning over on his back and propelling himself by a whirlpool motion of his arms. "Thought you'd give us the slip, did you? Well, we shall see."
Betty followed Frank's example, floating lazily on the still surface of the water.
"We weren't running away," she said; "we just wanted to show you we weren't afraid, that's all."
"I'll give you a race to that floating log out there, Betty."
Betty turned over and regarded the log in question with thoughtful eyes. "All right," she agreed, after a moment's hesitation. "I guess I can make that easily enough. Will you call the start?"
"Just as you say," he answered. "We are almost even now, and when I say go, we're off. Agreed?"
They shot forward together, side by side and shoulder to shoulder, each determined to save his strength for the final spurt.
By this time the others had come up and were watching the race with interest.
On, on the two racers went, with no apparent effort, until half the distance to the log had been covered. It was then that the watchers noticed the change. Betty lengthened her stroke a trifle and forged ahead, while Frank still kept the same steady stroke.
Then, when more than half of the remaining distance had been covered, Frank evidently made up his mind that it was time to show those people some real speed. Suddenly he dropped the lazy stroke, and it seemed as though he were imbued with new life. His arms and legs worked together with the precision of a machine and he shot through the water like a catapult.
Betty was not prepared for so sudden a transformation, but her surprise lasted only a minute. Gallantly she gathered all her strength and made a dash for the goal.
"I see Betty's finish," Will was saying, when Mollie cried excitedly:
"You just watch Betty. Did you ever see a girl like her?"
As Allen came up beside the pair he thought that at last he and Mollie had found something to agree upon.