“I guess I’m all ready now,” replied Dock, as he got on the center of the seat and adjusted the oars. “Now are you ready?” asked Sam again, as he stepped forward and raised the pistol, ready to fire the starting shot in a small race between Jack Ranger, one of the best-liked students at Washington Hall, and Dock Snaith, a bullying sort of chap, but who, in spite of his rather mean ways, had some friends. “Hu! Think I can’t beat Jack Ranger?” replied Dock with a sneer as he began putting more oil on the oarlock sockets. “That’s what it does,” came from Nat Anderson. “It looks as if you didn’t want to go into this race after all your boasting.” “Oh, you’re always fussing about something, Dock,” said Sam. “I want to put a little more oil on my oarlocks.”

“I’m as ready as I ever shall be,” answered Jack Ranger, in reply to the question from Sam Chalmers.