"It would make it impossible for either school to enter one real
swimmer and six dummies, and still win the match," Dick argued.
"My plan will stop the contest from being a one-boy race and
will give the contest to the school that has the best average
swimmers."

"Huh! I don't see it," said Hi doggedly.

"I think Prescott has the better of the argument," broke in Len
Spencer, who had sat tapping his desk with a pencil.

"Then I don't care much for your idea, either, Spencer," retorted
Martin.

"It may be that my idea isn't any good," nodded Len indulgently.
"I won't even claim that I know anything about sports. But you
must surely know who the umpire is in any such dispute. It's
always the editor of the local paper. So, Martin, if you won't
agree with Prescott, and if you won't admit that I know anything
about it either, suppose we lay the question before the editor
of the 'Blade.' I think he's in just now."

"As for me," spoke up Bill Rodgers, breaking his silence, "it
seems to me that Prescott's idea is good and fair."

"What do you say to that kind of stuff, Page?" inquired Hi quickly.

"I---I---er---well, I am agreeable to anything that pleases the
rest of you," stammered Courtney Page, by nature, a sail trimmer.

"You're a chump, then," Hi retorted elegantly. "The whole reason
why Prescott objects to one boy representing each school is that
he's afraid I can out-swim any boy that Central Grammar can produce."

"And I take it, Martin," Dick retorted, "that your reason for
insisting on the one-boy race, is due to your belief that you
can win from any one boy. Very likely you are the fastest and
strongest swimmer in any Gridley school. But a race with seven
boys on a side will better represent the average abilities of
the two schools. In baseball we tried to find out which school
had the average best players. We didn't try simply to find out
which school could boast of the one star player."

"That's right," nodded Len Spencer.

"Prescott, you're afraid to race with me, you or any other one
fellow in Central Grammar!" exclaimed Hi indignantly.

"No; I'm not afraid to swim against you," Dick declared quietly.
"I won't have the championship between the two schools rest on
any such race, but I'll enter a separate race against you---any
distance---this in addition to a seven-fellow race between the
schools."

"Now, I guess you haven't a leg left to stand on, Martin," smiled
Spencer. "Prescott proposes