That evening a meeting of the Blue Cove Academy Athletic Club was called
in the clubroom of the boat-house, and every member in the vicinity was
present.
Frank and Jack were asked to attend the meeting, and they were on hand.
When the meeting had been formally opened, Kent Spencer arose and
explained that it had been called for two reasons, the first matter for
consideration being the charge of double dealing and treachery which he
should make against their late coach, Rolf Harlow.
Then the red-haired boy, Fred Dobbs, who was secretary of the club, said
he had a brief communication from Harlow, which would render it quite
unnecessary for them to go through a regular investigation, and call the
two witnesses, Merriwell and Diamond, who were present.
"This note," Dobbs explained, "was left at the hotel by Harlow when he
suddenly decided to get out of Blue Cove to-day. The clerk forgot it,
and did not hand it to me till a short time ago, which explains how it
happens that I have not spoken of it."
He then proceeded to read it aloud. It ran as follows:
"_Mr. Fred Dobbs_, Secretary B. C. A. A. C.
"_Dear Sir_: As I am about to leave Blue Cove, I write this to
let you know that your entire club, and yourself and Kent
Spencer in particular, are a lot of chumps. You are easy stuff,
and if it hadn't been for Frank Merriwell, with whom I will yet
get square, I would have worked you for a jolly good haul in
cold cash. You must have thought me a fool to waste my time
coaching you for the paltry sum you agreed to pay me. I am out
for dust, and I generally get it. I intended to fix things so
you could not win against Alexandria, and I should have had a
good sum bet against you, being certain of winning. That was my
game, and now that it is spoiled, I don't care who knows it. I
think the Alexandria boys will win anyhow. As for Merriwell's
charge that Mr. Radford was sent here by Alexandria as a spy,
there is nothing in it. The Alexandria fellows knew nothing
about his being here. He is a friend of mine, and, as I had
advised him to bet against Blue Cove, he wished to see you in
practice. That is all. Yours derisively,
"_Rolf Harlow_."
This insolent and insulting note brought cries of anger from the
listening lads, and when Dobbs finished reading, the entire club was in
an uproar. On all sides fierce denunciations of Harlow were to be heard.
The things said about Rolf were far from complimentary.
Spencer, who was president of the club, found some difficulty in calling
the excited and enraged boys to order. A dozen times he hammered on the
table before him with his gavel, sharply commanding them to sit down and
be still. At last they subsided, grumblingly, scowling and muttering to
each other.
Kent then arose and said:
"Gentlemen, we should thank Mr. Rolf Harlow for saving us the trouble of
an investigation by frankly acknowledging himself the contemptible and
pusillanimous scoundrel which he is. A fellow who could make such a
confession without shame--indeed, a fellow who could make it boastingly,
as this fellow did, is not worthy an instant's consideration from
gentlemen!"
"Right! right!" cried the boys.
"All there is to be considered in connection with this matter, then, is
whether Alexandria was concerned in this dirty game or not."
"But he says Alexandria was not," quickly said a boy by the name of
Anson Addison.
"And I would not believe him under any circumstances!" cried Fred Dobbs.
Then arose another discussion, which ended in the appointment of a
committee to discover, if possible, if the Alexandria Club had resorted
to such a sneaking and ungentlemanly trick.
The committee listened to what Frank and Jack had to tell of the
conversation they had overheard between Harlow and the spy. They looked
serious, and were of the opinion that a further investigation seemed
certain to prove beyond a doubt that Alexandria, enraged by their defeat
of the previous season, had resorted to unfair means to win back the
title of "champions."
The next matter that came before the meeting was the consideration of
Frank Merriwell's proposal to enter the race with his Yale Combine.
As soon as this matter was called up, Anson Addison jumped to his feet
and protested against considering it while two members of the Yale
Combine were present.
Frank and Jack immediately arose to withdraw. Spencer urged them to
stay, saying he did not see why they should not remain, but they excused
themselves and left the room.
Then followed a red-hot discussion as to the advisability of letting
Merriwell and his friends row in the race. Addison argued against it,
and he made many strong points. He claimed that the Yale Combine was a
temporary organization, which would not be in existence long, and might
not last another year. If it won the championship, there was no
certainty that Blue Cove would get another opportunity to row against
the combine. Alexandria might object to rowing a three-cornered race; in
fact, it was almost certain Alexandria would object. There was no proof
that Alexandria had not dealt fairly with Blue Cove, and if the Yale
Combine won the race, and failed to row next season, Alexandria could
claim Blue Cove had lost the championship, which would give them an
opportunity to row against some other organization and bar Blue Cove.
Fred Dobbs, hot-headed as usual, made a spirited reply to this, but was
checked by Spencer, who used better judgment, talking quietly and
calmly, and showing that the things Addison pretended to fear were not
likely to happen. He also showed that in case the charge of double
dealing was proven against Alexandria, Blue Cove might bar them, and
give them no chance to make any claim to the championship, or a right to
win it back. In case this charge was proven, and Alexandria was barred,
where was there another crew to row against Blue Cove on the date set
for the event? The Yale Combine was the only one, as a race with another
organization could not be arranged in such a short time.
Addison was neither silenced nor convinced, but the question was put to
the test, and but two votes were cast against admitting the Yale Combine
to the race.
Then the meeting adjourned, and several of the Blue Cove boys hastened
to notify Merriwell and his friends of their decision.
Frank's party was delighted, for here was fresh sport for them, and of a
sort they had not encountered on their tour.
"I shall take a train for Washington to-morrow," said Merriwell, "and
see what I can do about securing an eight-oar shell."
"An' it's oursilves will be afther gettin' inther thrainin' immediately
afther ye return wid it, me b'y!" cried Barney.
Frank remembered the Irish lad had been handy with an oar in the old
days at Fardale, while Ephraim, at one time a genuine lubber, had been
to sea and could pull like a sailor. Hans was the one Frank feared would
cause trouble, but he said nothing of his fears. It would take some time
and hard work to hammer his crew into any sort of shape, but he was out
for sport, and to him work of such a nature seemed sport.
On the following morning Frank left Blue Cove for the nearest railway
station, where he boarded a train bound for Washington. He was gone more
than twenty-four hours, but when he returned he announced that a boat
would follow him shortly.
That very afternoon a handsome eight-oar shell was brought to Blue Cove,
and the boys received it with cheers of delight and admiration, the Blue
Cove lads cheering as loudly as the others.
"Look at them!" exclaimed Diamond, his eyes shining. "True sons of Old
Virginia, every one of them! Hearts as big as buckets and souls as large
as their entire bodies! Virginia, Virginia! mother of presidents and
fairest spot of all our glorious country! Who would not be proud to call
you home!"
The Blue Cove boys permitted the Yale Combine to put their shell in the
boathouse, and for more than an hour the place was filled with boys who
were making comparisons between the two boats. The final decision of
nearly all was that, although the new boat showed it was new, there was
no perceptible difference between them.
Being doubtful about Hans, Frank decided to take his trial trip under
cover of darkness, and the time was set for that evening.
It was nearly nine o'clock when, with his crew in their allotted
positions and himself as stroke, Merriwell gave the word, and the light
shell slipped out from beneath the shadow of the boathouse and glided
away upon the calm waters of Blue Cove.
To Frank's surprise, Hans could row far better than he had expected, and
the trial was fairly satisfactory, although it was apparent that the
boys would need no small amount of coaching to get them into a uniform
and even stroke.
How this coaching was to be done puzzled Merriwell not a little, for he
knew he must be out of the boat and in position to watch every man in
order to give them points.
"I'll have to borrow a stroke of the Blue Cove chaps," he thought.
"Spencer's work is all right, but it would overwork him to take my place
occasionally."
When they returned to the boathouse, they found Spencer and Dobbs
awaiting them.
"Well," called Kent, "how does it pan out?"
"The boat is all right," said Frank, "but my crew is rather rocky, and I
am puzzled to know how I am going to coach it. I can't do it in the
boat, but I don't know where I'll find a substitute to take my place
occasionally. That's what's wanted."
"Noel Spudd is the very man!" exclaimed Dobbs.
"Sure!" nodded Spencer.
"Who is Noel Spudd?" asked Frank.
"Fellow who was going to be on our crew, but his father would not let
him stay and train," explained Kent. "He came to the Cove this morning,
and will stay after the race."
"Can he row?"
"Can he? He's a daisy!"
"Then he'll do--if I can get him. See if you can fix it for me, Mr.
Spencer."
Kent promised to do so, if possible, and then the new boat was lifted
out of the water for the night.
The following morning Spencer brought Noel Spudd to see Frank. Spudd
proved to be a pleasant-looking, freckle-faced chap, good-natured and
obliging, and he agreed to help Merriwell out, if possible, although he
was anxious that his father should not find it out.
"You see, the governor is a crank," he explained. "He has a theory that
violent exercise is injurious to anybody, and he talks about enlargement
of the heart and other evils that follow racing. I had to promise that I
would not take part in the race before he'd let me come to the Cove to
see it. I'll keep my promise, but that will not prevent me from helping
the thing along by aiding in the practice."
So it was arranged, and Frank lost little time in getting the boys
together and putting them to work.
Browning grumbled, as usual, and Rattleton declared he was praying for a
chill, that he might get out of taking part in the work of training.
Spudd took Frank's place in the boat, and Merry watched his crew row
down the river, after which he mounted his wheel and followed.
For an hour Frank stood in a favorable position, watching the work of
the boys in the boat and giving directions. He told each one of his
faults, and how to correct them, and by the end of the hour he was well
pleased with the progress made.
Of course, Merriwell did not expect to have a perfectly trained crew,
capable of rowing against first-class college crews, but he believed his
boys could be whipped into such shape that they would stand a fair
chance of winning over Blue Cove and Alexandria.
A great surprise to him was the remarkable manner in which Hans
Dunnerwust showed up at an oar. On the land, the Dutch boy was a perfect
clown, but his whole manner and appearance changed the moment he got
into a boat. He could row nearly as well as the best of them.
Frank felt generous in the matter of the race, for certainly Blue Cove
had been most generous in its dealings with the strangers. He offered to
take Harlow's place as coach till another coach could be secured.
Spencer appreciated this, and the offer was accepted, so that afternoon
found Merriwell on the river's bank once more, shouting his commands to
the Blue Cove crew.
That night Kent Spencer publicly declared that it was his conviction
that the crew had improved more in one hour under Merriwell than during
the entire time Harlow had coached it.
Anson Addison was the only one who was not enthusiastic. He remained
silent and sulky, saying nothing, but thinking a great deal.
Addison was not well liked at Blue Cove, but he was something of an
all-around athlete, and without doubt as good a man with an oar as could
be found among the academy students. He was considered of great value to
the academy crew.
Since his defeat in the attempt to bar the Yale Combine from the race,
Addison had sulked and held himself aloof, refusing to speak to Frank
and his friends, whom he pronounced "a lot of plebes, not fit associates
for any gentleman."
Addison's friends had seen him sulky before, and Spencer advised them to
let him alone, saying he would get over it after a while if he was not
troubled.