Page:Castlemon--Joe Wayring at Home.djvu/243

 a deliberate collision at the stake-boat in the presence of all these strangers. What sort of a story will they carry back to the city about the Mount Airy canoe club Noble began the row by putting himself in Loren's way and Tom retaliated by capsizing Frank's canoe and throwing him out into the water."

"Do you think he meant to do it?" inquired Hastings, who was far in the lead at the time, and could not of course see what was going on behind him.

"I know he did," replied Joe, who then went on to give a circumstantial account of the manner in which the fouling was done. The boys all declared that it was a very neat trick, and one of them added— "That Tom Bigden's cheek is something wonderful. As soon as he had backed out of Loren's way and laid himself across the course so that we couldn't get by him without losing more ground than we could possibly make up, he called out that he claimed foul on that. Did you ever hear of such impudence?"

"Please give me your attention for one moment, gentlemen," shouted the president