And the crowd, jostling and laughing, swept Gary and Poke with it up the bank, Gary asking excitedly where Joe Cosgrove was.
“Wait till you hear what the referee says!” he demanded. “He hasn’t given his decision yet! Where is he? Any one seen him?”
But Joe was half-way to the links by that time, and when, hours later, Gary ran him down, he was suffering from a strange lapse of memory.
“Race? Oh, I’ve forgotten all about the race, Bull. What of it?”
“Well, didn’t I win?” demanded Gary. “Poke carried his canoe half the way.”
“That’s a very serious accusation to make,” said Joe gravely. “Can you substantiate it, Bull?”
“Of course I can! Dozens of fellows saw him do it! Why, you must have seen him yourself!”
“N-no, I don’t think I could swear that Poke carried his canoe. I did see him haul it up on the bank once, but there’s no rule to keep a chap from taking a rest if he wants to. All I know is that he arrived at the boat-house first, and that gives him the race, Bull.”
“But he cheated, I tell you! Don’t you understand that?”