"row, brothers, row," said gerald "kape it up, you're doin' fine."

"how are we going?" asked rand.

"almost as fasht as oi c'ud walk," replied gerald in his richest brogue. "av ye hit it up a bit mebbe ye c'ud be in toime to see the ind av it to-morrow, oi dunno."

"but truly, geraid," asked donald, "how are we doing?"

"as weil as c'ud be ixpected av a lot of farmers," replied the irrepressible gerald. "ye moight do worse, oi dunno. mebbe av ye tho't ye were hoeing potatoes ye c'ud do betther. can't ye hit up a bit?"

"i guess we can; a little," replied rand, who was rowing stroke, slightly increasing his effort. "how is that?"

"betther," responded the other, and the boat shot ahead a little faster.

the uncas crew were out for a final spin over the course before the race, which had been set for the following day. beside the uncas and the highpoint, the alton, from farther up the river, had also entered. it was not thought, even by their friends, that the uncas had much chance against the others, whose crews, particularly the alton's, were much heavier and stronger.

"is that better?" asked rand, after they had rowed a short time.

"'tis a thrifle betther," replied gerald. "av ye do as well to-morrow, mebbe we won't be disgraced intirely, oi dunno."

"come now, gerald," pleaded jack, "tell us how we are doing?"

"shure, oi don't want to discourage ye intirely," replied gerald, "but ye didn't do any betther than three minutes in the lasht moile."

"three minutes!" shouted don; "did we do it in that?"

"hurrah!" cried jack; "we'll be in it yet."

"in what?" asked dick.

"in the water," chuckled jack.

"you will be," retorted donald, "if you spring anything like that on us again."

"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.

"monkey rae again," murmured jack. "i thought we had got rid of him."

"keep cool, rand," advised don; "it isn't worth while making a fuss over."

"he ought to have his head punched," put in dick.

"who?" asked jack. "don?"

"no; that fellow in the boat," answered dick.

"that isn't the way to teach him good manners," objected jack.

"it's the only way you can teach some people," argued dick. "who is he?"

"oh, that's the man that took our boat up the river," replied jack.

"what do you think he was trying to do?" went on dick.

"trying to steal it, of course," replied jack.

"i mean now."

"oh, smash us up so we couldn't row to-morrow," guessed jack.

"but what for?" persisted dick.

"oh, just pure ugliness, i guess," replied jack.

"then, you know, monkey has it in for rand for the thrashing he once gave him for beating his dog."

"does he carry malice like that?" asked donald.

"he will carry it all his life," replied jack, "and then some more. then monkey doesn't like any of us because he was always behind us in school. he says we got ahead by favor, for we aren't any smarter than he is."

"let fall!" ordered gerald. "let's try it again."

the boys bent to their work, but they had lost their vim, and they did not strike their pace again.

"i don't understand about monkey," began jack, as they drew into the landing. "there is something back of all this, and i mean to find out what it is."

"what have you been doing," cried pepper, who was waiting for them on the landing, "fishing?"

"no; monkeying," answered rand. "jim rae got in the way, and we had to stop for fear of smashing into him."

"why didn't you do it and get rid of him?" asked pepper.

"it would more likely have got rid of us," replied rand; "and i guess that is what he was trying to do."