gradually he pushed "Mascotte" and
"Waterspin" through, and ahead of, the other craft. "I'm saying nothing
about the Club flag; but they can see it, and they all know what it
means. But, to save rows, I'm being extra polite, and, you see, it pays.
Nobody yet has resented our getting ahead, though theirs is the right of
precedence."

On we went toward the top of the lock, sneaking, sidling, pushing, here
and there thanks to a good-natured, helping hand, here and there thanks
to a shout from the lock-keeper to a sulky bargeman. On the lock-keeper
the sight of the Club flag had a magic effect, and he evidently intended
to make its rights respected, no doubt counting on a five gulden "tip"
at the end.

Ignorant of the perils at which Alb had hinted, the time seemed
intolerably long as the water foamed in through the upper sluice-gates,
filling the lock inch by inch, and lifting its load of creaking boats
and tugs. When we entered the lower gates, we could see only the green
and slimy wall of the lock; but by-and-by we found ourselves looking
over green fields to a picturesque old town no more than a stone's throw
away.

Alb's pleasantries and the might of the Club flag had brought us near to
the top of the lock, and I had begun to hope that his dark prophecies
were not to be fulfilled, when I jumped at the sound of a shout from
shore.

The voice was the voice of Alec MacNairne, and turning my head with a
start, I saw his tall figure tearing toward us on the narrow parapet
made by the edge of the lock.

"That's what you meant?" I quavered.

"That's what I meant," answered Alb. But his hand was on the starting
lever, and the upper gates had begun to swing back.

Alb was looking particularly debonair, and taking pattern by him, I
turned away from my aunt's husband, pretending that I had neither seen
nor heard him.

"Hi, you there! Starr--Brederode! Scoundrels!" he roared at our backs.

"If he jumps into one of these boats and gets across to us!" I murmured.

"He will if he can, but----"

Before Alb could finish his sentence the first half of my fear was
verified. Sir Alec gathered himself for a spring, and leaping across
the narrow water-lane between his parapet and the nearest barge, landed
with a crash on the gunwale.

At that sound my heart seemed to stop for repairs; for there were two
barges in front of us, the biggest in the lock, and we had not been able
to pass them before the doors began to open. Now