In the meantime, the Eagles’ borrowed sled, with Aquebogue a close second, flashed across the roaring, yelling, horn-blowing finish line, amid a perfect bombardment of “Boom! Boom! Boom!” from the flashlight artists.
“They threw us over. They did it!”
“It’s their fault!”
Jack Curtiss and Bill Bender, followed by their two cronies, came rushing up as a congratulatory crowd pressed about the cup winners.
Jack shook his fist angrily in Rob’s face.
“You stole the race!” he bellowed furiously. “We had it won.”
“Won by a mile!” declared Freeman Hunt.
“By a file, you mean,” shot out Rob, looking straight into the other’s eyes. Jack Curtiss’ gaze wavered and fell.
“Come on, fellows. Let’s leave the babies to have their candy,” he sneered, as, amid the hoots and laughter of the crowd, he and his cronies slouched off.