It was no easy matter to speak while they were cutting through space at such a tremendous pace and Paul would have done better to have saved his breath; but he had waited and hoped for this great day so long, that he just could not bottle up his delight.
Not a sound could they hear around them save the whistle of the wind through the ropes above, or the sharp humming music of the runners spurning the smooth ice. Pud had long since ceased to shout derisive cries back at the pursuers. His scorn and mocking gestures had changed into nervous movements, as he tried to increase the speed of the Glider by altering his position from time to time.
When another five minutes had passed, though it seemed an hour to the impatient Paul, they had gained so much upon the other boat that the two were now within easy speaking distance. Yet strange to say, those on the Glider maintained a dead silence, that was quite unusual to their buoyant natures. It makes considerable difference whether one is on a winning or a losing craft.
Paul, however, could not keep still. This experience almost set him wild with delight. And where could you find a boy who would decline to rub it in a little, given the chance?
“Hey! you there!” he hallooed, using his hands as a megaphone; “get out of the way, and give us room. We’re going to pass you, and let you take our dust! Sheer off to one side, and let us have the middle of the river! We’ve earned the right of way. Lively now, Elmer! You’re a back number after this, with your out-of-date boat! To the scrap heap for yours!”
Perhaps it was hardly kind of Paul to add to the humiliation which Elmer must naturally be feeling, as he thus saw that the Glider was plainly playing “second fiddle” to the new iceboat; but it must be remembered that for years now, the son of the richest man in Rivertown had lost no opportunity to sneer at Paul, and humiliate him when he had the chance.
Apparently the two who crouched there on the Glider were at their wits’ ends to discover some means for increasing their speed. They seemed to be exchanging warm sentences, and Harry even thought he heard Elmer’s rasping voice raised in anger, as though he might be trying to lay the burden of the blame on the bully, whose extra weight might be just the cause for the difference in speed of the two boats.
Pud could also be heard answering back, and it sounded as though he were telling his comrade that the fault lay in his lack of skill in managing the Glider, rather than the handicap of weight.
“Can we pass ’em, d’ye think?” gasped Paul, as they drew still closer to the leading boat, on which a dead silence had now fallen.
“Easy enough, unless Elmer chooses to play some trick on us,” replied Harry.