"Not but what there is a good deal about it that I don't know," said Jack to his cousins. "I guess dad could write a better essay than I can turn out. He's seen some of the real side of a soldier's life."

"What wonderful things our dads will have to tell when they get back,"

said Fred. "That is, if they ever do get back," he added anxiously.

"Oh, they've got to come back, Fred! They've simply got to!" returned Jack. But his face, too, showed his worry. The Rover boys did not care to admit it to each other, yet each day every one of them worried over their parents. It was dreadful to think that one's father, or one's beloved uncle, might be killed by the Germans, or even badly wounded.

On the Sat.u.r.day following the bobsled contest the boys a.s.sembled once more on the long Hill, and this time they were accompanied by many of the girls from Clearwater Hall. Jack and his cousins gave Ruth and the others many rides down the hill, much to their mutual delight.

"Here comes Bill Glutts with his _Yellow Streak_," cried Fred presently.

"Here's a chance to have another race with him, Jack," said Fatty Hendry. "He says you won the other race by a foul."

"That's the talk, Jack!" cried Dan Soppinger. "Show him and the whole crowd that you beat him fairly."

At first Jack did not care to pit himself again against Glutts. But there was so much talk that at length he consented, but insisted upon it that the whole course of the slide must be policed by the cadets.

"All right, we'll do that," said Major Ralph Mason, and then ordered all the cadets he could collect to station themselves on each side of the slide from the top to where it ran out on the lake.

"Oh, Jack, I hope you do win again!" said Ruth anxiously.

"I intend to do my best," he answered.

"You have got to win, Jack Rover!" cried his sister Martha. "If you don't beat that great big clumsy Glutts, I'll never speak to you again."

With so many cadets stationed along the course, Bill Glutts felt that his chances of winning the race were diminishing. He had thought that he could crowd Jack as he had done before, but now Walt Baxter laid down the law in such a manner that it could not be misunderstood.

"I will toss up a coin," said Walt, "and if you guess right, Glutts, you can take your choice of sides, and whichever side you or Jack Rover select, that side you must stick to from start to finish."

The coin was tossed up, and Bill Glutts called out "tails" and won. Then he said he would take the right side of the slide, that which Jack Rover and his chums had previously used.

"All right, then, Glutts," announced Walt. "Now then, remember that you have got to keep to the right all the way down; and you, Jack Rover, must keep to the left. If either of you crosses the middle of the course, that one will be disqualified and the race will be given to the other."

"All right, Walt, I will stick to the left from start to finish; just watch me and see," declared Jack.

"And I'll stick to the right," announced Bill Glutts. But his face showed anything but a happy expression as he spoke.

Jack had the same crowd on board that he had before, but Glutts made several changes. He retained Nick Carncross and Codfish, but for the other three cadets subst.i.tuted youths who were slightly built, and consequently rather light in weight.

"He's saving all the pounds he can," whispered Randy.

"Jack, do you think the right side of the course is better than the left?" questioned Gif.

"I don't know. One looks about as good as the other to me," was the young captain's reply.

Professor Frank Grawson had come up and was quite interested in the proposed contest.

"I used to do a lot of bobsledding myself," said the professor, who was well liked by nearly all the cadets. "I used to have a home-made sled which was my pride for several seasons. Now, to make this more interesting, I'll put up a prize for the winner."

"Fine, Professor! Fine!" was the cry.

"What's the prize?"

The teacher thought for a moment.

"Well, every boy likes a good pocket knife," he said presently. "Now, to the one who wins this race I'll give a first-cla.s.s, four-bladed, buck-handled knife. I saw some very good ones down in the hardware store at the Point, and I'll get one Monday."

"That's splendid, Professor!" cried Jack. "I'll do my best to win that knife."

"You'll see that knife coming to me!" exclaimed Bill Glutts, glaring at the young captain.

Walt Baxter now called for the contestants to get ready. In a minute more the two bobsleds stood side by side, each with its load of pa.s.sengers, and with Fred ready to push one to the front and Nick Carncross ready to shove the other.

"All ready!" shouted Walt. "One--two--three! Go!"

And away both bobsleds dashed, and the great race was on.

CHAPTER V

THE DEFEAT OF THE BULLY

"Go ahead, Jack! You've got to win!"

"Don't let 'em beat you, Bill. Put it all over those Rovers."

"Oh, Jack, don't let them get the best of you!" cried Ruth.

"You've got to win!" screamed Martha.

"Here is where Glutts shows 'em what the _Yellow Streak_ can do!"

So the cries ran on as the two bobsleds slowly gathered momentum and started down the long slope leading to Clearwater Lake.

At the beginning Glutts had a little the better of it, because the right side of the slide seemed to be more slippery than the other. He was the first to gain the top of the nearest rise and he shot over this while Jack's bobsled was still climbing the slope.

"Hurrah! Bill Glutts is ahead!"

"He said the _Yellow Streak_ could beat any thing in this vicinity."

"Oh, do you really think Glutts will win?" questioned Ruth anxiously, as she turned to Dan Soppinger.

"Well, I should hope not!" answered Dan.

"If he does win there will be no holding him down," put in Ned Lowe, another chum of the Rovers. "He'll crow to beat the band all winter."

Forward went the two bobsleds, each steersman doing his best to guide his sled where running might be the easiest.