"Don't talk to me!"
"All right, I won't," and without another word Ralph walked off, leaving Percy to get out of his predicament as best he could.
The young aristocrat was fearfully angry when he at last drew himself out of the lake. His hat had floated off, and he was compelled to row away from shore for it. By the time he came back Ralph had disappeared.
"I'll fix him for that!" muttered the young bully, hotly. "I'll fix him, see if I don't!"
It made Percy doubly angry to think that Ralph had been so richly rewarded for stopping the runaway team. Percy thought a good deal of Julia Carrington, and he fondly hoped that the young and beautiful girl regarded him with equal favor. He would have been disagreeably surprised had he known the exact truth.
Percy had rowed over to Eastport, intending to call at Mr. Dunham's sporting goods store for a new fishing-rod with which to go fishing up the lake. But now he was out of the humor for this, and, instead of landing again, he turned back toward Westville.
It was a bright, sunshiny day, and by spreading out his coat on the seats, he soon had it fairly dry. He also pressed the water from his cap and from his vest and trousers as best he could.
"Yes, sir, I'll get square with him, just as sure as my name is Percy Paget," he muttered over and over to himself.
Percy was just about to tie up at one of the little wharves some distance above the bridge, when he espied two young ladies walking along the shore. They were Julia Carrington and her intimate friend, Carrie Baker.
"Good-morning!" cried Percy, raising his cap with what he imagined was a decidedly graceful flourish.