This parley was interrupted by the arrival of the advance guard of the scholars who had come down to challenge their rivals at Rivertown.
“Are you going to let us win by default?” asked one of the boys from Springtown.
“Not so you’d notice it. When it comes to count the winners, Springtown won’t have a look in!” returned Dawson.
His words brought a cheer of encouragement from his schoolmates.
“Then let’s get busy and start the races right away,” announced the spokesman for the Springtownians.
“All right. Bring the men out. We have only three. How long is the race going to be?”
In response to this question various were the exclamations of opinion; some clamored for two miles, others asserting that one was enough. When they could come to no definite conclusion, several of the leaders from each of the schools got together to try to settle the distance.
Their attempt, however, was as unsuccessful as had been those of the scholars en masse; and finally Socker Gales exclaimed:
“Let’s toss a coin!”
The suggestion met with instant approval from both of the opposing forces.