“I have an idea worth two of that,” cried Jessie gayly. “I have been wanting to suggest it ever since we came up here. How about a canoe race?”
“Pretty fine,” applauded Fol. “We will take three canoes, a girl and a fellow in each boat——”
“Oh, no! That wouldn’t be any fun,” Jessie protested. “My idea was for Nell and Amy and me to race you three boys.”
The boys stared at them for a moment and then burst into loud guffaws of amusement.
“We certainly like your nerve,” remarked Burd, indulgently, not annoyed in the least by the indignant glances from three pairs of feminine eyes. “How much handicap would you like? A mile? Or would a half mile do?”
“You think you are smart, don’t you?” retorted Amy. “We will race you fair and square from the start, and——”
“Beat you, too,” finished Jessie, decidedly.
“All right,” chuckled Darry, heading down toward the dock. “Honors are even, and the best man—best girl—wins!”
With much merriment they selected the canoes that were to be used in the contest. The girls chose the green craft as being the one they were most used to and, “just to make the color scheme good,” Burd said, the boys chose the crimson.
After some good-natured squabbling it was decided that Jessie and Nell do the paddling while Amy should furnish the “ballast.” The latter yielded to this arrangement only after it had been pointed out to her that Nell was stronger than she and that Jessie was the most skilful of the three in the handling and steering of the boat.