"I'm telling you," said John, "that I haven't seen but one fellow on the Varmint II that was on board when I came up the Hudson with them."
"What has become of the others?" inquired Fred.
"I don't know. I haven't seen any of them. I remember that one particular fellow because he made me think when I saw him that there weren't many things he would hesitate to do if he wanted to win pretty badly."
"Do you really think," inquired George, "that this 'accident' up here was not an accident at all? Do you honestly believe that they ran into us on purpose?"
"I'm not charging nobody with nothin', as Sam says," laughed John, "but it's strange that boat didn't give any warning."
"They said that we didn't give any warning either," spoke up Grant. "Perhaps we were as much to blame as they were."
"Well, if that's the only thing that happens to us," said Fred, "I shan't complain, that is, if the Black Growler isn't put out of the race."
"You'll have a good excuse, Peewee," laughed George, "if you lose the cup."
"How's that?" inquired Fred.
"Why, you can charge it up to the collision."