“I suppose I might. But, no! I think I’ll keep them guessing for a while. I’ll just hint at what is coming.”
“You are to have some boat races here soon, I believe?”
“Yes, Dad. They come off Saturday.”
“Of course you hope to win?”
“We certainly do! You see, I’m at the head of the student athletic committee, and that, of course, takes in rowing here. The races are to be against Longley Academy, the place that has been recently turned into a military school.”
That day Mrs. Garrison appeared to see her husband and was glad to know that he was not injured nearly as much as she had anticipated. She remained with him for several days, being the guest of Colonel Colby, whom she knew quite well.
In a large school like Colby Hall there were, of course, many who could row well, and in the past there had been a number of races on the river and the lake. There were, in fact, a number of regular crews, and the school possessed an eight-oared shell, two four-oared shells, and a dozen or more singles and doubles.
“There will be three races,” announced Gif. “A race for the singles, one for the four-oared, and one for the eight-oared.”
“What about the motor-boat?”
“Colonel Colby wouldn’t think of that. He said that these contests must be contests of muscle, not gasoline.”