THE WINNER
Pee Wee was so full of tickle that he was not sleepy! His father and
mother had been up for the regatta, and were staying at the Rockledge
Hotel until the school closed for the year.
Mr. Wise was a rich man and he could afford to do about anything that
Pee Wee wanted him to do. There was something now on Pee Wee's mind
and, as Fred said, "he'd have to get it out of his system or he couldn't
go to sleep."
"Wait till the other boys are asleep," whispered the fat boy. "I'm
going to keep pinching Mouser so he'll keep awake. You fellows pinch
each other."
The beds of Bobby and Fred, and Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, were side by
side. It rather tickled Bobby and Fred to think they should keep each
other awake in the way the fat boy suggested; but that he carried it out
in Mouser's case was very evident from the occasional grunts and
objections from the latter.
The chums from Clinton kept themselves awake by asking each other
riddles, and telling stories. Fred had one "giggly" joke that went as
follows: "Say, Bobby, do you know they're going to close the public
library down town?"
"What for?" demanded his chum.
Just then Pee Wee's shrill whisper reached them: "Cheese it! Come here,
fellows. I have something to tell you--honest!"
The dormitory was quite silent, save for the four boys in the corner.
Fred slipped out of bed and Bobby followed him. Pee Wee and Mouser were
sitting up in their own beds.
"Now listen," whispered the fat boy. "Just as soon as school's out, my
folks are going to Bass Cove. We go there every summer. It's a dandy
place--you bet!"
"All right. We've heard about that before," said Mouser, yawning. "You
might let a fellow go to sleep and wait till morning to tell us your
chestnuts."
"I've a good mind not to tell _you_ at all," grunted Pee Wee.
"Say! you're not telling any of us very fast," whispered Fred, giving
the fat boy a poke. "Get busy! some of the others will wake up."
"I'll tell you," whispered Perry Wise, earnestly. "I have the grandest
father! He says I can have you three down to Bass Cove, if your folks
will let you come. What do you know about _that_?"
"Oh--fine!" gasped Fred, when he could get his breath.
All three of the boys had heard about that summer place. Pee Wee was
never weary of talking about it.
"Sure he'll let us come?" demanded Mouser, wide awake on the instant.
"That's what I said. I've been asking him in my letters. And he saw
you to-day--and mother, too--and he said 'yes.' He liked you
all--'specially Bobby--and he says you all can come."
"Say!" gasped Fred. "That'll be great. Won't it, Bobby?"
"I should say," admitted his chum. "And I was wondering what would
become of me before my folks got home again."
"We'll go clamming, and crabbing, and fishing, and sailing--oh,
crickey!" gasped Fred, with his head under the bedclothes, "what won't
we do?"
"It will be great," admitted Bobby, with a sigh of longing. "I just
hope your folks will let us go."
This hope was realized, as my readers may learn if they meet Bobby and
Fred in the next volume of this series, entitled: "Bobby Blake at Bass
Cove; Or, The Hunt for the Motor Boat _Gem_."
The four giggled, and whispered, and talked the matter over for another
hour before they could close their eyes. The outlook for the summer
vacation was first in their mind, too, when they awoke in the morning.
But this was an important day at Rockledge School. Even the expected
pleasures of a summer at Bass Cove must be put temporarily in the
background.
In the afternoon the graduating exercises were to be held--called at
Rockledge "the commencement exercises." In the evening the boys
entertained socially all their friends and relatives who could or would
come to the school.
There was something else--something that loomed almost as big to some of
them as the graduation of the seven head boys.
After breakfast the whole school filed up to the big hall. It was a
serious occasion, and even Fred Martin was not "cutting up" this
morning, and was one of those who most solemnly reached their seats.
All the teachers were sitting on the platform with Dr. Raymond. The old
captain of the school, and the new captain, each stood at a door in the
back of the room to see that nobody slipped out, and to collect ballots
when the time came.
"Now, boys," said the good Doctor, rising and smiling at the fifty.
"This is a serious occasion yet it is a happy one, too. It should be
happy for you all, because your teachers have found among you at least
one boy who is worthy of the high honor of receiving the medal," and he
displayed the gold star as he had on that first day, nine months before.
"It is happy for us on the platform," and he made a little bow to the
gentlemen with him, "because you have found one among you whom so many
seem to admire. And we know what you admire him for.
"It is unhappily impossible for every boy voted for to win the medal.
That is understood. Not alone must he be popular with you all, but he
must have stood high in every study and in his deportment as well.
Several of those voted for the other day in the informal balloting by
the school, cannot possibly receive the approval of myself and the other
masters.
"Master Gray, unfortunately, is not eligible; neither is Masters
Durrock, Converse, or Spelt. There is no dishonor attached to the
records of these boys, but there are other reasons--reasons connected
with their standing in class--that make it impossible for us teachers to
agree on either of these names.
"Now, boys, on the ballot now handed around, you will have but one
choice. And it looks as though your choice had already been indicated.
Let me assure you that, if that is so, your teachers are, one and all,
in favor of your choice."
There was a murmur of approval--almost a cheer--when the doctor had done
speaking. Lots of the boys turned to smile at Bobby. He suddenly found
himself very red in the face. Fred looked delighted. Pee Wee could
scarcely keep in his seat.
Barry Gray and Frank Durrock passed the papers swiftly, and gathered
them again in a few minutes. That the school was almost unanimous could
not be doubted.
Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrin counted the slips. There was a bunch of them on
one side of the table and only a few on the other side. The doctor
rose, smiling with satisfaction.
"My dear boys!" he said, ringingly. "It is a joy to me to find you so
nearly unanimous. And you have chosen the boy of whom, above all
others, we approve.
"Robert Blake! stand up."
_Then_ they cheered. It was impossible to silence the Lower School, at
least, for fully three minutes. Bobby stood, blushing and trembling
during this "unseemly riot."
"Robert," said Dr. Raymond, quietly, at last, "you have been a good boy
here, and an exceptionally faithful scholar. I have watched your course
for the year with interest. You have won out under circumstances that
were most trying.
"You boys have a code of morals of your own. I know it. 'Thou Shalt Not
Tell Tales' seems greater to you than any other commandment. And I
confess I do not uphold the tale-bearer.
"If a boy does wrong, he should tell on himself. _That_ is being
honorable. Especially if he knows that because of his wrong-doing any
other fellow is suffering.
"You all know that Robert bore a burden of punishment for months which
he did not really deserve. There is another among you, however--and I'm
proud of him!" and the doctor flashed a single glance toward Fred
Martin's red hair and red face, "who came forward when he understood,
and did his all to remove the black mark from Robert's record.
"It makes me happy to know that I have such boys as these in Rockledge
School. I do not believe there are fifty boys anywhere--in any
school--any finer than _my_ boys," declared the Doctor, with growing
enthusiasm.
"And I have never presented the Medal of Honor to any of my boys with
greater pride than I shall feel when I pin this star upon Robert Blake's
coat this afternoon."
The school cheered again. Even Mr. Leith smiled at the enthusiasm
displayed by the youngsters. They formed in line, Barry and Frank
Durrock lifted Bobby to their shoulders, and the procession marched down
stairs and out, and around the campus.
Bobby felt terribly disturbed. It seemed to him as though his ears
would never stop burning.
They made too much of it. He was delighted that he could tell his
mother and father of his success, and show them the gold star. But he
could not see just how he had won it, nor how he had won the boys'
enthusiastic approval.
There was another honor for him, too. He was selected as one of the new
members of the school secret order--The Sword and Star. _That_ went
with the winning of the medal without question.
"Wow!" sighed Pee Wee, "he can hit as hard as any fellow in the Lower
School, when he boxes. And he's good fun, and is not afraid to get into
a game of fun, even if the teachers scowl on it a little."
"Huh! I guess not," grunted Fred. "That's right about Bobby. He's not
afraid of _any_thing. That is, he's not afraid to do anything that isn't
mean."
And that being a most just expression of his character, we will say
good-by for the present to Bobby Blake and his friends.
THE END