Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/140

 their faces they fell behind, and allowed him and Tom to go on ahead.

"You know boys who are going to try to win by foul means!" repeated Joe. "I didn't suppose that there was any one in the club who would be so mean. It is true that last year a certain canoeist persisted in keeping as close to me as he could, and drove the bow of his craft toward the stern of my own as often as he got the chance; but I thought it was accident, while some of my friends on shore declared that it was his intention to run into me, and claim the race because I got in his way. But, as luck would have it, I was able to paddle fast enough to keep out of his road. It seems to me that if I couldn't win a prize fairly, I shouldn't want to win it at all."

"I know who that fellow was," said Tom, "and I know, also, that he tried his very best to foul you. It was Prime. I heard all about it."

Tom and his cousins supposed that Joe's next question would be: Who told you about this plot, and what are the names of the boys who are "booked" to win by fair means or