"I speak for the red one," gasped Gregory.
"All right! I'll go for the greening," agreed James, and they puffed and sputtered, and were quite unable to fix their teeth in the sides of the slippery fruit until James drove his head right down to the bottom of the tub where he fastened upon the apple and came up dripping, but triumphant.
Stimulated by the applause that greeted James, Tom and Roger tossed in two apples and began a new contest.
"This isn't a girls' game is it?" murmured Helen as Tom won his apple by the same means that James had used.
"Not unless you're willing to forget your hair," replied Dr. Watkins.
"You can't forget it when it takes so long to dry it," Helen answered. "I'm content to let the boys have this entirely to themselves."
While the half drowned boys went up to Roger's room to dry their faces the girls prepared nut boats to set sail upon the same ocean that had floated the apples. They had cracked English walnuts carefully so that the two halves fell apart neatly, and in place of the meats they had packed a candle end tightly into each.
"We have the comfort of the apple even when we're defeated," said Gregory, coming down stairs, eating the fruit that he had not been able to capture without the use of his hands. "What have you got there?"
"Here's a boat apiece," explained Helen. "We must each put a tiny flag of some sort on it so that we can tell which is which."
"This way?" George asked. "I've put a pin through a scrap of corn husk and stuck it on to the end of this craft."