"Do you mean he'd put a snag in the course, so that Brad would run on it, never dreaming there was such a thing there?" asked the indignant Fred.
"Huh! worse than that," pursued Bristles with vehemence; "Buck wouldn't stop a minute to hack our boat to pieces, or even set fire to that old shed, if he believed he could do it on the sly, and not be caught!"
Fred saw that his chum meant every word of what he said. The idea was startling.
"That's a pleasant lookout then, we've got before us, Bristles," he observed.
"All right, it's what I believe, just the same," the other went on, firmly. "If we let things just slide along I give you my word some fine night we'll be aroused by the fire whistle, and get down here in time to find the boathouse ablaze, and our new shell ruined for keeps."
"If that seems to be the opinion of several of the boys, we ought to do something to prevent it," Fred declared, positively.
"That just brings me to the point," ventured Bristles. "Are you in with our little bunch—Colon, Corney, perhaps Sid, and me?"
"I'm ready and willing to do anything I can to defend the boat, if that is what you mean," came the ready response.
"Shake on it, then. Wait here till I send the other fellers around. Then we'll just have a little confab, and see what we can fix up. I'll sound Sid while we're coming along; though if you're in, he's sure to say yes, because he always sticks by you like a plaster."
A minute later Colon arrived, wearing a serious look; and then Corney followed. The three had just got started talking when Bristles hove in sight, bearing Sid along with him.