"Haven't we got to win?" queried Dave.
"Especially after all the brag we've been throwing in their direction?" Tom supplemented.
"We'll win if we can do it easily," Dick answered. "Otherwise we won't."
"Then what becomes of our Gridley talk?" asked Greg.
"The difference is that this isn't a real race to-day," Prescott explained. "This is only a brush, and we're in it only to see what the Preston boys can show us about canoe handling."
At a rather slow, easy dip, the "Scalp-hunter" ranged up near the "Pathfinder."
"All ready there, Gridley?" called Hartwell rather impatiently.
"As ready as we're going to be," said Dick.
"Flying start, or from a stop?"
"Either," Dick nodded.