will have to do, Toby. And of course whatever you and Jack decide on
goes with me, you understand."

In fact it was almost always that way, such unlimited confidence had
both Toby and Steve come to place in Jack Winters. But then he merited
all their high esteem, for rarely did things go wrong when Jack's hand
was at the helm; he seemed to be one of those fellows whose judgment
is right nine times out of ten. Looking back, the Chester lads could
begin to understand what a great day it had been for them when Jack
came to town, full of ideas which he had imbibed in the lively city
where his folks had formerly lived.

"I'm more than ever convinced," Toby went on to say, reflectively,
"that we'll be able to put a flier on the ice this coming winter that
will have everything beaten a mile. It works out all right in theory
anyway."

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating," chuckled Steve, who
apparently was not built along quite as sanguine lines as Toby. "But
then it'll be a heap of fun to try something new. All the iceboats
I've ever seen around here have always been built after the same old
model. Nobody ever seemed to think they could be improved on the least
bit; and that it was only a matter of the pilot jockeying in order to
blanket his rival and win out."

"Joe Hooker seems to be taking considerable stock in what we're doing
to build up a machine for gridiron work," mentioned Jack, with a ring
of satisfaction in his voice. "I certainly hope we can make things hum
around here this Fall. Chester's hour has struck, it seems; and after
our baseball victories we ought to be just in time to carry our colors