"We are ready," said Scout =Brother.
"We're ready to ride the rapids."
The Bear Scouts were going to paddle their canoes
down the =Rapid River. They were trying to earn
the White Water Merit Badge.
They launched their canoe and climbed aboard.

"Just a minute," called a voice!
It was =Too-Tall Grizzly and his gang.
They had a boat, too.
"How about a race," said =Too-Tall?
"Let's have a race down the river."

"We're working on our White Water Merit Badge, =Too-Tall,"
explained Scout =Sister.
"What's the matter," asked =Too-Tall? "Scared?"
"Okay, wise guy," said =Brother. "We'll have a race. How far?"
"Down the rapids, around the bend to the old oak tree," said =Too-Tall.
"And may the best cubs win," added =Smirk.

The Bear Scouts and the =Too-Tall gang pushed their canoes out into the river.
"Ready," said Scout =Fred, "get set, paddle."

They all began to paddle as fast as they could.
At first, the two boats were neck and neck.
Then the Bear Scouts began to pull ahead.
They were better paddlers than the =Too-tall gang.

The Bear Scouts all paddled together.
"Stroke! Stroke! Stroke," =Brother called to keep the time!
The =Too-Tall gang paddled every which way.

"Look out," warned Scout =Lizzy.
"We're coming to the rapids."
White water boiled up ahead of them.

"Stroke! Stroke! Uh=oh," said Scout =Brother as they shot down into the rapids!
They swept passed =BigBear Rock.

They curved around =Swirling Whirlpool.
They bumped down =TwentyStep Falls.

When they reached the bottom of the falls, they looked back.
The =Too-Tall gang were nowhere to be seen.
"I guess they chickened out when they saw those rapids," said Scout =Fred.

"Hurray," shouted the Bear Scouts!
"We're going to win!"
They crossed their paddles.
"Motto time," they cried!
"One for all and all for one!"

But as they drifted around the bend in the river they saw an amazing sight.
There, tied to the old oak tree that marked the finish line, was a boat.
And there, leaning against the tree was -- the =Too-Tall gang!

The Bear Scouts' mouths hung open.
"How," they gasped? "How did you get ahead of us?"

"Nothing to it," said =Too-Tall with a grin!
"We just paddled around one side of =BigBear Rock while you paddled around the other side.
"Yeah," smirked =Smirk!
"You were so busy with your 'Stroke! Stroke! Stroke' that you never noticed us!

The =Too-Tall gang began to dance around the Bear Scouts, pretending to paddle.
"Stroke! Stroke! Stroke," they chanted!

The Bear Scouts were furious.
They knew that they had really won the race.
They knew that they had been cheated, somehow.
But, how?
It was a mystery
The white water mystery!

That's when =Lizzy noticed Dr =WiseOldOwl sitting in the branches of the old oak tree.
Maybe he could explain.
"Dr =WiseOldOwl! Dr =WiseOldOwl," called =Lizzy!
"Can you tell us how =Too-Tall won the race?"

Dr =WiseOldOwl turned his head all the way around, blinked and said:
One boat at the start, then round the bend,
There's a path to boat two at the other end.

"A path," wondered =Fred? "Where?"
"There," said =Sister, pointing!
A path led into the woods.
"Let's follow it and see where it leads."
The Bear Scouts followed the path through the woods back to the riverbank around the bend.

"Look," cried Lizzy!
"There's another boat tied up at the other end."
"One boat at the start," said =Brother, rubbing his chin.
"This must be the boat that =Too-Tall used at the start of the race."

"And while we were shooting the rapids," =Sister went on, "they hopped out,
ran along the path to boat two at the other end."
"And pretended to win the race," added Fred!

The Bear Scouts ran back along the path.
"Hey," they yelled at the =Too-Tall gang!
"You didn't win the race! We did! You cheated!"
=Too-Tal just shrugged.
"We have a motto, too," he told them.
"If you can't beat them, cheat them."

The Bear Scouts not only won the race, they earned their
White Water Merit Badge as well. They hung it on their
clubhouse wall with their other badges.

The =Too-Tall gang had to make their own badge to hang on their
clubhouse wall.
It was the "If you Can't Beat Them, Cheat Them" demerit badge.