"The two fellows that own the boat are both of them sons of very
rich men, who give them all the money they want to use. It hasn't
done the youngsters any good, I guess, from what I heard. They
bought the motor-boat expecting that there wouldn't be anything
on the river that could touch her. They say they are pretty sore
now that they have found that there is a boat which may give them
a hard rub and perhaps take the cup away from them after all."
"Sam, if you win that race for us--" began Fred eagerly.
"I'm not going to win your race," broke in Sam. "I've heard you
say that you're going to do the steering yourself and if you are,
why the only thing I can do is to be a sort of court of appeals.
I'll be there to help you out if something goes wrong. Now, we're
up against a pretty serious proposition. Those fellows are bound
to win that race and if they can't win it one way they are goin'
to win it another."
"I don't see how they can win, Sam, if they don't go faster than
we do."
"Maybe they can win," suggested Sam, "if we go slower than they
do."
"That's the same thing," laughed George.
"Not by a jugful."
"Why isn't it?"
"Why, they may not be goin' so very fast and yet if our boat
isn't in good shape it may be that they'll keep ahead of us and
beat us."
"Well, that's just what you're here for," said Fred; "to see that
nothing does happen to us or to our boat.
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