"Hi, you fellows! what do you mean by skating so quick?" piped out Andy Rover gaily.
"We'll leave the tree to you, Andy!" shouted his twin.
"I don't think we'll win, but, anyway, we won't be last," came from Fred, as he and Andy touched the tree.
"Well, we can't have everything in this world," was the philosophic reply from the other Rover boy.
It could be seen that the race had now narrowed down to the five who were in the lead. Of these, Spouter Powell and Dan Soppinger were less than two feet apart, while only a yard to the rear came Jack, Randy and Walt Baxter.
"Go it, Randy!" sang out Andy, as he dropped still further behind. "Go it! I know you can win!"
"Keep it up, Jack!" yelled Fred, who, being the smallest of the four Rovers, found it impossible to keep up the pace. "Don't let Spouter and Dan hold you back!"
There were numerous cries of encouragement for all of the skaters as they swept forward toward the starting point. Here a line had been drawn on the ice, and the cadets stood at either end, some with their watches in their hands to time the winners.
"I'll bet Dan Soppinger wins!" cried one of the cadets. "He's the best skater on the lake."
"Well, Spouter Powell is a good skater, too," returned another.