"That reminds me—" began Dick.
"What does?" asked Donald.
"What is the matter, Gerald?" broke in Rand, as the coxswain, with a sudden exclamation, threw the rudder hard down and called:
"Up oars, all!"
The boys raised their oars just in time as the shell grazed the stern of a heavy skiff, which a boy, who was rowing, had stopped just in the course of the shell.
"Hey, there!" shouted Rand as the boats swept apart: "what are you trying to do, run us down?"
"What are you trying to do, yourself?" retorted a man, who was sitting in the stern of the skiff. "Don't you think anybody has any right on the river but you? Think you own the whole place, don't you?"
"But you had plenty of room without getting in the way," persisted
Rand. "I think you did it on purpose."
"Aw, go wan!" returned the man. "Don't get too funny or I'll come over there and take you over my knee."
"Come over and try it, if you think you can do it," replied Rand hotly.