Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/153

 next meet, there won't be a boy in the club who can touch him with a ten-foot pole. He's going to make an expert."

"I'll just tell you what's a fact," said Loren, after the canoes had been wiped out and hoisted in their slings, "I am not so much afraid of Joe and his crowd as I was. I don't think there will be any need of the fouling business. I kept pace with Hastings in spite of all he could do to shake me off, and could have passed him if I had let out a little more strength."

"That shows how much you know about these things," said Tom, in reply. "Do you suppose that Hastings did the best he could? I kept up with Joe without any very great exertion, but I don't crow over it. They had plenty of speed in reserve, but you will have to wait till the day of the races if you want to see what they are capable of."

The sequel proved that Tom was right.