Like their own craft, the other boat carried but a single mast. But the stick was at least ten feet longer than the mast of the _Spray_, and the boat was correspondingly larger in every respect. As she came nearer the Rover boys saw that she contained two occupants, a boy and a somewhat elderly man. "Sheer off there!" cried Dick, at the top of his lungs. "Do you want to run us down?" "Get out of the way yourself!" came back the answer from the boy in the other boat. "We can't get out--we are almost on the rocks now!" yelled Tom. Then he gave a start of surprise. "Why, it's Mumps!" "By jinks, it is John Fenwick!" muttered Dick. "I remember now that he came from the Hudson River and that his folks owned a boat." He raised his voice, "Are you going to sheer off or not?" By this time the two boats were nearly bowsprit to bowsprit, and Sam Rover's heart almost stopped beating. But now Mumps spoke to the man with him, and his craft, called the _Falcon_, sheered to port, scraping the _Spray's_ side as she did so. "Mumps, what do you mean by such work?" demanded Dick, when the immediate danger was past. "Ha! ha! I thought I would give you a scare," laughed the former sneak of Putnam Hall. "You needn't be afraid but what I and old Bill Goss here know how to keep the _Falcon_ out of danger." "It was foolishness to run so close," said Tom. "Don't you talk to me, Tom Rover. I've had enough of you, mind that." "And I want you to mind and keep off next time, Mumps. If you don't--" "What will you do?" "I'll be tempted to come aboard the _Falcon_ and give you a thrashing." "You'll never set foot on my boat, and I'm not afraid of you," roared Mumps. "You think you got the best of me at Putnam Hall, but you didn't, and I want you to know it." "How is your friend, Dan Baxter?" cried Sam. "Has he landed in jail yet?" "Never mind Dan Baxter," growled Mumps, growing red in the face; and then the two yachts moved so far apart that further talk was impossible. "Well, I didn't expect to meet him," muttered Dick, after the three brothers had cooled down a bit. "He must have known we were in this boat." "I saw his craft last night, down near Catskill," said Tom. "I'll wager he has been following us up." "He wouldn't do that unless he had some reason for it." "I believe he would sink us if he could," put in Sam. "To my mind he is almost as bad as Baxter." "Hardly, Sam; Dan Baxter is a thief and the son of a thief," came from Tom. "By the way, I wonder if Arnold Baxter is still in the hospital at Ithaca." "More than likely, since he was so badly hurt by that fall from the train. If we--Look, Mumps has turned around and is following us!" Sam pointed to the _Falcon_, and his brothers saw that he was right. Soon the larger craft was again within hailing distance. "Hi, Mumps, what are you following us for?" demanded, Dick, as he stepped up on the stern seat.