THE FIGHT
"You--you miserable scoundrel!" gasped Frank. He made a rush for the
bully, who instinctively stepped back.
"Don't--don't you dare touch me!" whined Welter, as the knife dropped
from his trembling hand.
"Touch you! I'll give you the best thrashing you ever had!" cried the
young captain. "What are you trying to do; ruin our shell so we can't
race?"
"I--I was just--just seeing----"
"Don't make it any worse," broke in Frank bluntly. "I saw you jab one
hole in it, and you were just going to make another when I caught you."
Once more the young captain approached him, and Welter shrank back.
"You ought to be put out of the school!" cried Frank. "What did any of
us ever do to you that made you think of such a mean trick as this?"
"You--didn't you knock me down once?" demanded Welter.
"Oh, so that's the reason? You wanted revenge on me. Well, why didn't
you come out like a man and say so? I'd have given you satisfaction any
time. I'm going to have it out of you now."
"Don't you dare touch me!" cried the bully again.
"Put up your hands!" sternly ordered Frank. "This is going to be a
fight to a finish!"
Instinctively Welter defended himself, as he saw Frank coming at him,
and then, there in the boathouse, by the light of the lantern was
fought one of the greatest fights in which our young hero ever had a
part. It was not all one-sided, either, for Welter was tall and strong.
But he was no match for Frank, burning with anger as he was. The bully
tried to block a blow from Frank's left, and countered with his right,
but it never got through Frank's guard. Then, like a flash, the young
captain crossed, and Welter staggered back from a heavy blow.
"Take that, and then see if you want to ruin any more shells!"
exclaimed Frank, as he struck out with his left, straight from the
shoulder.
His fist landed squarely on Welter's jaw and once more the bully went
over, falling on a pile of sail cloth in one corner. He struggled to
rise and Frank stood over him.
"Are you sorry for what you did?" the captain asked threateningly.
"Yes--yes!" stammered Welter, holding his jaw.
"And do you promise never to try such a sneaking act again?"
"I--I do. Oh, don't hit me again!"
"Then get up," spoke Frank grimly.
He turned aside, and was about to look at the damage done to the shell
when he heard a movement behind him. He turned just in time to see
Welter raising a broken oar over his head.
"Ah, would you!" cried Frank, skillfully ducking the blow aimed at him.
The next instant he knocked the bully down again.
As Welter fell, a figure advanced from the outer darkness and stood in
the doorway of the boathouse. Both lads saw it, and as Welter struggled
to his feet a rasping voice exclaimed:
"Ah, Racer, this time I have caught you in the act! Out after hours
and fighting! How dare you knock a fellow-student down?" and Professor
Callum glared at our hero.
"Yes, this is the second time he knocked me down!" whined Welter.
"I knocked him down because he was about to hit me with an oar!"
exclaimed Frank hotly. "It was a fair fight until he tried a mean
trick."
"Then you admit you were fighting?" asked the professor craftily.
"Of course. And so would you have fought him if you saw what he did. He
tried to ruin the shell, and the race comes off to-morrow."
"How dare you bring my name into this disgraceful affair?" demanded the
teacher. "As if I would ever fight! I abhor it, and I detest those who
fight."
"He hit me first," whined the bully.
"I have no doubt that he did, from what I know of him," agreed Mr.
Callum.
"That's not so. It was a fair fight. I dodged his first blow and--well,
it was a fair fight," murmured Frank.
"That will do. I shall at once report you to Dr. Doolittle. You may
consider yourself suspended, Racer. I saw you deliberately knock Welter
down. You are suspended!"
"And--and can't I race to-morrow?" pleaded Frank, his heart beating so
hard as almost to choke him.
"Race! I should say not!"
Frank made a bold resolve. Matters could not be made much worse and he
decided to risk an appeal to the irate professor.
"Look here, Professor Callum," said Frank. "I know you don't like me or
my brother, but can't you at least be fair?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I'm telling you the truth. I was out after hours. I admit
that. Coming home I saw a light in here, and I saw Welter in the act
of putting holes in the bottom of the shell. There is one slit he cut,
and here is the knife he used." Stooping quickly Frank picked up the
weapon that had dropped from the bully's hand. "Now all I ask is a fair
show," went on the captain. "I'm willing to be suspended, but can't you
wait until after the race, Professor? Give Riverview a chance to beat
Waterside?"
Frank paused in his pleading. Welter was observing him with a mocking
smile. There seemed to be some struggle going on within Professor
Callum. Perhaps he remembered that he was once a boy. Perhaps he saw
the justice of the demand Frank made. Perhaps he was weary of the low
place Riverview held in athletics. At any rate he said grimly:
"Very well, Racer. I will suspend judgment on you this once. But don't
think you are going to escape. Fighting is a flagrant breach of the
rules here, and you must be punished. But you need not report to Dr.
Doolittle until after the race. Then I shall prefer a charge against
you."
"That's all I ask," said Frank heartily. "I'm not afraid of punishment,
but I do want to beat Waterside. If we win," he added in a lower voice,
"I don't care what happens."
"You may go to your rooms now," went on Mr. Callum. "Remember, Racer,
see the doctor immediately after the race. I will be there waiting for
you."
"Nice prospect," thought Frank; but somehow there was joy within him.
He made a hurried examination of the shell and saw that it could be
fixed with about an hour's work. Professor Callum left the boathouse.
Welter hurried after him, probably in fear lest Frank might renew
hostilities. But our hero had no such intentions. Besides he had
inflicted enough punishment on the bully.
"Oh, by the way," Mr. Callum called after Welter. "You are out after
hours, too; you may also report to Dr. Doolittle--after the race."
"All right," muttered Welter.
Frank found Andy awake when he entered the room and his brother became
more so when he heard the story of the night.
"By jinks!" exclaimed Andy. "I didn't think any fellow could be so
mean! Are you sure we can fix the shell?"
"Oh, yes. We'll have the race all right. Now go to sleep. I'm dead
tired and I want to be as fresh as possible for to-morrow."