"I should be glad to think I had anything to do with gaining the prize for you, even indirectly; but it will be due in a large measure to your own good rowing. Only, keep up your practicing."
"I will do so."
"I want you to win; and, besides, I want Conrad to lose. I hope he won't hear anything of your entering the race."
Two days before the picnic Valentine happened to meet Conrad at his father's store.
"Are you going to enter the boat race at the picnic?" asked the latter.
"I am not certain."
"You have the only boat that can compare with mine. Have you been practicing any?"
"I have been rowing a little."
"I shall have to look out," said Conrad, but his manner did not indicate apprehension. "Probably the prize will go either to you or me."
"Thank you for the compliment."