“And you said that your Cousin Loren was booked to win, if you could make him do it,” retorted Noble, who had climbed into his canoe and was rapidly throwing out the water it had shipped in righting. “That’s why you capsized me. It is a lucky thing for you that you didn’t smash in the side of my boat as you tried to do. I would have made you pay roundly for it, if there is law enough in Mount Airy to—”
“That will do,” said the judge, in a tone of authority. “This is not the place to settle quarrels, and neither am I the one to do it.”
“My paddle got unjointed, and I couldn’t shift from one side to the other quick enough to keep clear of you,” said Tom.
Meanwhile Hastings, Sheldon and Loren Farnsworth were making fast time down the home stretch toward the starting point. To the surprise of every body, and to the no small annoyance of Arthur Hastings, who had never before been so closely followed by any one except Sheldon and Wayring, Loren was not only holding his own, but he was gaining at every stroke. There is no telling which one of the three would have come out ahead at the finish, had they been permitted to continue the struggle; but the referee, seeing the commotion among the rest of the fleet, called out: “No race!” and pulled up to the stake-boat to see what was the matter. The judge gave him his version of the affair, Noble and Tom Bigden gave theirs, and each of the two boys would have expressed his opinion of the other in no very complimentary terms, had not the referee interrupted them by saying—
“Hard words can’t settle disputes of this kind. The race will have to be tried over again, and Noble, I don’t think you will be allowed to take any part in it. You made a mistake in trying to cross Bigden’s bows when you did, because you had no room to do it without interfering with him. You threw him out of the contest, and came very near throwing Farnsworth out, too; consequently it will be my duty to bar you. I am sorry—”
“You needn’t be, for I am sure I don’t care,” replied Noble, rudely. He tried hard to control himself so that the boys around him should not see how very angry he was, but his efforts met with little success. To be ruled out of one contest was to be ruled out of all; and that was a severe blow to a boy who had confidently expected to carry off some of the best prizes. “What are you going to do with Bigden?” he asked, or rather demanded of the referee.
“That depends,” answered the latter, somewhat sharply.
“He can’t do any thing with me because I have violated no rule,” said Tom, defiantly. “You ran across my path when you had no business to do it, and an accident to my paddle made me run into you. That’s all there is of it.”
But the referee and judge seemed to hold a different opinion. They conversed for a few minutes in tones so low that no one but the guides could hear what they said, and presently the judge appealed to Joe Wayring.
“You were close behind Bigden when this happened,” said he. “Do you think it was an accident?”