"Freshmen can't row like that. It must be the varsity. I believe it is! Say, they're all right," and Frank paused in his rowing to gaze admiringly at the oncoming shell. Truly it was a pretty sight.
Nearer and nearer it came at a swift pace. Unconsciously both Andy and Frank ceased rowing and their boat drifted with the current. They were nearer the oncoming shell than they realized, especially since the coxswain changed his course slightly to avoid a floating log.
Suddenly above the voice of the steersman monotonously counting the strokes there came a cry.
"Hey, you fellows! Look where you're going! Do you want us to run you down?" The hail came from the shell, and the tones were almost insulting.
"Gee! We are pretty close," said Andy in some alarm. "Pull over, Frank."
The two lads dipped their oars in the water, but the current had them in more of a grip than they counted on. The rowers from Waterside had not ceased their swift strokes and the knife-like shell was fairly tearing through the water.
"Look out! Look out!" yelled several of the scantily-clad rowers. The shell was between the heavy drifting log and the big clumsy rowboat containing Frank and Andy. To steer the shell very much to either side, at the rate it was going, would mean almost certain capsizing.
"What ails you boobs, anyhow?" howled the coxswain. "You ought not to be allowed on the river without a nurse. Get off our course!"
The men had ceased rowing but the shell was still shooting forward under its momentum. A flush came to Frank's tanned face.
"We've got as good a right on this river as you have!" he cried.