"Anything more?" inquired Dory.
"I wonder if they row in kid gloves," said Ben Ludlow.
The boys seemed to have exhausted their terms applicable to the young gentlemen of the Collegiate Institute, and a silence followed. There could be no mistaking the sentiment of the crew of the Winooski. They were disposed to ridicule and lampoon the young gentlemen without mercy. Possibly there was some justification or palliation for the manifestation of this spirit, for the Chesterfields had applied offensive terms to them on several occasions.
"Now, fellows, I should like to have you hear me for a moment," said Dory, when the crew appeared to have exhausted their supply of taunts.
"All right, Dory: propel," answered Phil Gawner.
"Those boats seem to be going to Sandy Beach; but that is no reason why we should not go there also."
"Of course it isn't!" exclaimed Ben Ludlow. "We have as much right at Sandy Beach as they have, and if they want to prevent us from going there, there will be music in the air."
"It is not at all likely that they will try to prevent us from going there," added Dory. "Those fellows claim to be gentlemen, and Colonel Buckmill claims it for them."
"The proof of the pudding is in eating the bag," said Ben Ludlow.
"This is a baked pudding, and there isn't any bag," returned Dory. "If those fellows are gentlemen they have made some slips, to put it in the softest way we can. They have yelled at us, and called us 'tinkers,' which is not a gentlemanly way to do things."