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 substituted 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 wi