opposite direction.

A slight scraping as the side of the Gem slid along the side of the
nearer of the racing craft, and they were safe, with no harm done with the
exception of a little paint scraped from the side of the boat.

It was a moment before the girls could realize what had happened to them.
Then a voice hailed them from the boat alongside. In a glance the girls
perceived that the voice belonged to no other than Percy Falconer himself.

"Hello," called Percy, adding boisterously as he recognized the girls:
"Well, by all that's holy, if it isn't the Outdoor Girls! Thought you
never came over to this side of the river."

"We don't," Betty answered, the hand that still gripped the wheel shaking
nervously now that the danger was over. "And I don't believe we ever will
again, either!"

"I say, your teeth are chattering," cried Percy, looking at Betty in open
admiration. In the old days, Percy had tried hard to win favor in Betty's
eyes, but the latter had always treated him with a good-natured
indifference not unmixed with contempt that had been very hard for the
young dude to bear. During the years he had still admired Betty from afar
and hated Allen Washburn for being the "lucky one." So now he hastened to
make the most of what he thought was an opportunity.

"Come on over to the Point with me and Derby here," indicating the young
fellow in the other racing craft who had drawn his boat up close to them
and was looking on with interest. "We will get you something to steady
your nerves a bit. We had a pretty narrow squeak that time, and it's no