“We ought to be able to get up some good races,” remarked Dave.

“You’ll disgrace Gridley High School, though, unless you drop Danny Grin and Greg Holmes,” retorted Susie.

“Now, don’t be too hard on us, Miss Sharp,” tantalized Greg, “just because we tried to dissuade you from committing a crime with the otherwise laudable intention of feeding us when our money runs out.”

“If you will only leave Greg and Dan out,” proposed Clara, “you may call on any two of us girls that you want to take their places in the canoe on race days.”

“Whew!” muttered Dick suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” demanded Belle.

“Don’t mind Prescott,” urged Tom Reade.  “Just as we left shore on the other side someone threw a stone into the lake and raised a succession of ripples, which rocked the canoe a bit.  So—–­well, you’ve all heard of sea sickness, haven’t you?”

“We might feel worse than sea sick,” Dick went on, “if we had raced, and then suddenly remembered that we have no authorization from Gridley High School to represent the school in sporting events.”

Tom’s face fell instantly.  Dave Darrin, too, looked suddenly very serious.

“What’s the matter?” asked Laura anxiously.

“Why, you see,” Dick went on, “although we are sure enough Gridley High School boys, we haven’t gone through the simple little formality of getting our canoe club recognized by the High School Athletic Council.”

“You can race just the same, can’t you?” asked Susie Sharp, looking much concerned.

“We may race all we wish, and no one will stop us-----”

“Then it’s all right,” said Susie, with an air of conviction.

“But we simply cannot race in the name of Gridley High School.”

“Oh, but that’s too bad!” cried Clara.

“You can write to someone in the Council and secure the necessary authorization, can’t you?” asked Laura.

“Yes, we can write; but it’s another matter to get action by the Council in time,” Dick responded.  “You see, it’s the vacation season.  There are seven members of the Athletic Council and I believe that all seven of the members are at present away from Gridley.  Likely as not they are in seven different states, and the secretary may not even know where most of them are.”

Eight Gridley High School girls suddenly looked anxious.  They had been rejoicing in the prospect of “rooting” for a victorious Gridley crew here at Lake Pleasant.  Now the whole thing seemed to have fallen flat.

“The thing to do—–­though it doesn’t look very promising—–­is
to-----” began Tom Reade, then came to dead stop.

“How provoking you can be, when you want to, Tom,” pouted Clara.  “Why don’t you go on?”

“Because I found myself stuck fast in a new quagmire of thought,” Reade confessed humbly.  “What I was about to say is that the first thing to do is to write to Mr. William Howgate, secretary of the Gridley High School Athletic Council of the Alumni Association.  But that was where the thought came in and stabbed me with a question mark.  Mr. Howgate is out of town.  Does anyone here know his address?”