JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE.
"They have stolen our clothes!" shouted Ben Ludlow, who was the first to
discover the mischief that had been done.
"Shall we steal theirs if we can get hold of them?" asked Dory.
"We can't get hold of them," replied Ben, who was not disposed to renew
the former discussion.
"Perhaps we can; we know where they are, and all we have to do is to go
and take them," added the coxswain, with a smile and a shrug of the
shoulders.
"But the fellows have them on," Ben objected.
"That has nothing to do with the right and wrong of the question,"
continued Dory.
"I think we had better get back our own clothes before we talk of
stealing theirs," said Ben. "I am cold now I have come out of the water,
and I want my shirt and trousers."
"We are all in the same pickle," laughed Dory, as he glanced at the
boats of the Chesterfields.
The collegiate gentlemen seemed to be afraid the Beech Hillers would
not know what had become of their garments, and they were flaunting them
in the air as a matter of information to their rivals. And they seemed
to be enjoying the situation hugely, and the shouts of derision and the
roars of laughter came across the waters thick enough to stir up all the
bad blood in the veins of the Winooskis.
"We are in a pretty fix," exclaimed Phil Gawner, as he extended his arms
as an athlete would exhibit his muscles.
The principal required every student to wear trunks when he bathed, and
was very strict in enforcing the rule. When the second class came out of
the water, they were certainly in uniform, though it was rather unique
in style. It was a cool day, and cooler on the shore than it was in the
water. Most of the boys began to shiver as they stood on the beach, and
the situation was very uncomfortable as well as very annoying, so far as
the proprieties of society were concerned.
"I shall freeze to death," said Lick Milton, his teeth chattering like
those of a person with the ague.
"So shall I! And we shall all catch our death of cold," added Jim
Alburgh.
"I have one cold now, and I shall have another on top of it," shivered
Corny Minkfield.
"All the crew in the boat!" shouted Dory, with a vim that showed he was
determined to do something.
"All aboard!" cried half a dozen others, as they tumbled into the barge.
Half the crew were required to shove her off before they took their
places; but in a minute they were all afloat, wondering what the brisk
coxswain intended to do.
"We can get warm if we can't do anything else," said Dory, as he took
the tiller lines in his hands, "Up oars! Shove off! Let fall! Give way!"
The last order was given when the boat had been shoved clear of the
sands of the beach, and had come about so that it was headed out into
the lake.
The unclothed rowers bent to their oars, and the Winooski began to spin
through the water. The exercise was in the highest degree exhilarating
under the circumstances. Dory had the worst of it for he had no oar to
pull; but he swayed his body with more than usual vigor, and the wind of
the crew was not likely to last a great while under the rapid movements
required of them.
The coxswain shook up his frame and muscles all he could, and he soon
ceased to shiver. A couple of minutes were enough to send a glow through
the veins of the rowers, and they were soon as warm as though they had
been clothed in their overcoats.
The Dasher and the Racer continued to flaunt their banners in the air,
and to send their shouts of derision over the water, until the Winooski
had reached her highest speed. Very likely Wash Barker and Mad Twinker
had some idea of the rapidity with which the Beech Hill barge was
approaching them. At any rate they hauled down their banners, and got
their oars into the water.
In spite of their present semi-nude condition, the Winooskis were still
under the influence of the usual discipline, and they did not attempt to
look behind them, or otherwise to inquire into the movements of the
Chesterfields. But the coxswain knew that the curiosity of a boy is
almost as strong as his love of fun, and he was in the habit of giving
his companions all the information that would interest them.
"The Chesterfields have taken down the clothes and are pulling with all
their might to keep out of our reach," said he, when he was warm enough
to use his organs of speech without stammering.
"That is not saying much," replied Life Windham.
"We shall overhaul them in about three minutes," added Dory.
"What then, Dory?" asked Ben Ludlow, but his wind was so nearly gone
that he could hardly speak.
"I don't know, that depends," answered the coxswain.
"If they don't choose to give us back our clothes, I don't see that we
can do anything," said Life Windham.
"Perhaps we can, we will see."
But Dory was very anxious in regard to the situation, and he found it
very difficult to decide what to do. True to his antecedents, he wished
to avoid a quarrel, or even a dispute, with the members of the
Collegiate Institute. If he went near them there was sure to be trouble;
but it would be impossible to recover the clothes without approaching
them.
There were only two courses open to him: one was to return to Beech Hill
with his naked crew, and the other was to confront the Chesterfields;
and a meeting might result in their being obliged to go back to the
other side of the lake in their present novel uniform. It would be
humiliating to return in a state of nature, and to encounter the
derision of the first class.
Was it necessary for him to submit to every indignity without resistance
in order to avoid a quarrel? Must his crew submit to being robbed of
their clothes rather than stand up for their rights? Must they abandon
their property rather than make an effort to reclaim it,--rather than
run the risk of a quarrel?
Dory decided these questions in the negative very promptly. His religion
was stalwart enough to make him believe there was such a thing as
carrying even meekness too far. If there proved to be a quarrel, he
should go into it with clean hands, having done nothing to provoke it;
and what was true of himself personally was true of every member of his
crew. Not one of them had uttered a jeer or a taunt in the hearing of
the assailants. They had minded their own business in the fullest sense
of the phrase; and whatever happened they were not to blame.
The boys were warm and comfortable by this time, and the coxswain had
greatly reduced the rapidity of the stroke. The rowers had regained
their breath, and were watching the anxious face of Dory with the most
intense interest. There were twenty-six of the Chesterfields, which was
double their own number, and to get their clothes by force did not look
like a hopeful enterprise to any of them. But the Gildrocks were not far
off, and their assistance could be had for the asking.
"Now, fellows, we must overhaul those boats," said Dory in his usual
quiet tone, when he had decided not to return to Beech Hill in their
present uniform.
"What are you going to do, Dory?" asked Ben Ludlow curiously; and the
same question was on the lips of every member of the crew.
"I intend to do whatever it may be necessary to do. We are going after
our clothes, and we must get them the best way we can," replied the
coxswain.
"But suppose they won't give them to us?" suggested Life Windham.
"The clothes belong to us, and we have urgent need of them at just this
time. If they won't give them to us, we must take them, if we can,"
answered Dory.
"But we can't," added Phil Gawner.
"We can't tell till we try."
"Don't you think we had better call on the Gildrocks, and get them to
help us?" Ned Bellows asked.
"That's the idea!" exclaimed Lick Milton. "Then we shall have as many
fellows as they have."
"Do you see anything of the Gildrock?" inquired Dory with a smile.
"I don't see her, but she can't be far off," answered Lick, as all the
crew cast their eyes over the lake astern of them.
"I think she has gone into Rock Harbor," said Jim Alburgh. "The
Gildrocks don't want to see us just yet, after the whipping they have
had."
"If we go after the Gildrock it will be half an hour before we can get
back here again. Those fellows will hide our clothes while we are gone,
and I am not in favor of losing sight of them for a moment," added Dory.
"But what's the use of going ahead when we can't do anything if we come
up with them?" said Ben Ludlow.
This question was discussed for the next few minutes; and it was plain
that Ben Ludlow and several others had "no stomach for the fight" which
they believed would grow out of a meeting with the Chesterfields. If
there was going to be a fight, they wanted to be equal in numbers to the
enemy; and they felt that the older and heavier fellows of the other
boat would make an even thing of it.
For this reason they were not in favor of following up the Chesterfields
until they were reinforced by the Gildrocks. This was the view of
several of the crew, but the majority, whatever their opinion, were
entirely willing to leave the whole matter to the plucky but prudent
coxswain. He had always brought them out of all difficulties, and they
were more disposed to trust him than to depend upon themselves. They
were vigorous in their support of Dory, declared that they would obey
orders whatever broke, and hoped he would do what he thought best.
Those who were anxious to follow their own views were compelled to yield
the point, and they ceased to offer any further resistance. Ben Ludlow
and the others who had been so desirous of getting even with the
Collegiates were not so earnest as they had been. They were ready to
"call names," and throw mud, but when it looked like a brush of another
kind, their backs were not so stiff.
"Fellows, you have behaved first rate so far, and I hope you will do so
to the end of this affair," said Dory, after all questions had been
settled. "You kept still when I asked you to do so, and, whatever
happens, we shall go in with clean hands. I don't know how we can settle
this matter with those fellows, but I want you to be silent and let me
do all the talking with them."
"All right, Dory: propel," replied Corny Minkfield; and the sentiment
was promptly indorsed by all the others.
The coxswain began to increase the speed of the Winooski, which had
already gained half the distance between the boats. In a few minutes she
was within hail of the enemy.