“Ha, ha!” chuckled Wyn.
“Don’t you see? We can’t claim the treat without giving ourselves away? I believe I’ll join forces with Bess. There is nothing meaner than a boy.”
“Never mind,” said Wyn. “I’ll find some way of making Master Dave pay for the ice-cream treat, just the same. You see if I don’t.”
Soon after this the launches were sent to one side so as to leave the course clear, and the races began. The men’s and boys’ canoe races were very interesting, and Dave Shepard won a sweater, while one of the other Busters got the second prize of a dollar for quickness in overturning and righting a canoe.
Some “funny stunts” followed in the water, and then came a girls’ swimming race. Here the Go-Ahead girls excelled, although there were more than a score of entries. Wyn Mallory won a two-hundred-yard, straightaway dash, while Frank was second and Grace Hedges third in the same race. The people who had come up from Denton cheered the girls enthusiastically. When the parents who had been so afraid for their daughters’ safety saw how well able the girls were to take care of themselves, their anxiety was allayed.
After these swimming contests there was an interval of two hours for refreshments. A caterer had prepared tables of sandwiches and cold drinks, as well as ice cream and cake, on one of the bigger docks belonging to Braisely Park. In fact, it was Dr. Shelton’s dock.
The catboat races were to follow the intermission and Wyn found that the Jarley Coquette had been entered. She ran over to the dock from which the “cats” were to start for the line, and as she approached the spot she heard loud voices and saw a little crowd of excited people.
The Coquette was almost the only catboat left. Dr. Shelton had backed Mr. Jarley up against a post on the wharf and, in a loud and angry voice, was telling the unfortunate boatman what he thought of him.
“You have the cheek to be in this race, John Jarley?” cried the angry man. “I don’t mind your daughter–I pity her. But I’m hanged if I’ll let a thief take part in this race–and me offering the prize. Get out of here!”
“Hold on, Shelton!” exclaimed one of his friends. “You’re going too far when you call Jarley a thief.”