On and on went the two toboggans. The last little rise was passed and the speed began to slacken. Suddenly the _Whistler_ struck a snag--the dead limb of a tree, which was half-hidden in the snow. It quickly swerved out of its course, directly in the path of the oncoming _Buster_. “Get out of the way!” shouted Jack Bascoe, who was, as usual, in the front. “Turn her around, Sully!” “Don’t run into us!” shrieked several on board of the _Whistler_. “To the right! To the right!” Those on the _Buster_ tried to do as advised, not only for the sake of their rivals, but also to save themselves. But it was too late to do much. The _Buster_ swung around a trifle, and then came up sideways with a bang, and out into the snow flew every one of the boys on both toboggans. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, although several faces and hands were scratched, and Pickles got a bruise in the shin, his one weak spot. All were soon on their feet, and the toboggans were dragged to one side, out of the way of any that might be following. “What did you mean by running into us?” demanded Pete Sully, hotly, as he stalked up to Harry. “What could we do when you blocked up the course?” retorted the owner of the _Buster_. “We didn’t block up the course!” “You certainly did,” interposed Jack. “You ought to be thankful that we didn’t run right over you.” “It wasn’t fair!” “It was fair,” said Harry. “But I’ll tell you what was not fair--tying that wash-line under my toboggan, and that’s just what one of your crowd did.” “What’s that?” growled Bill Dixon. “We didn’t touch your confounded bread-shovel.” “Some one tied that rope on,” said Andy, picking up the line in question. “It smells like your rope, Longman,” he went on, to a boy whose father was the captain of a schooner on the river. “It’s a regular tarred line.” “See here, because you lost the race, you needn’t claim a foul!” growled Sully, wrathfully. “You may think----” “Lose the race!” came in a chorus from those who had rode upon the _Buster_. “We lost no race!” added Jack, vigorously. “Yes, you did.” “I certainly don’t see it.” “You ran into us, and that gives us the race,” said Bill Dixon. “Not by a jugful,” exclaimed Harry. “We were on the left, where we belonged. Had you kept to the right----” “You’d have been all right,” finished Boxy. “Come on up the hill and try it over again.” “I won’t do it,” returned Sully, sourly. “It’s my race.” “He won’t race because we’ve found out about that rope,” said Harry, growing angry. “I’m going to tell the crowd about it as soon as we get to the top of the hill.” “Do you mean to say that I placed that rope under your toboggan?” blustered Sully, stepping up to him with clinched fists. “One of your crowd did,” returned Harry. “It was put there for the sole purpose of keeping us back.” “If you say I put it there, I’ll hammer you!” “You heard what I said. I am not prepared to say more--just now. You may hear from me later.”