FRED CENTURY MAKES A CHANGE
It was a great victory for Jack and his chums, and when they came ashore
they were almost hugged to death by their friends.
“When I saw you drop behind my heart went down into my shoes,” said
Harry Blossom. “But when you came in ahead my heart——”
“Climbed out of your cap, I suppose,” finished Pepper.
“Just about. Oh, it’s a dandy victory,” and Harry’s face fairly beamed.
“Boys, you did very well—very well indeed!” exclaimed Captain Putnam,
coming up and extending his hands. “Major Ruddy, you have a sloop to be
proud of.”
“I am proud of the _Alice_,” answered Jack. “She did all that I expected
of her.”
Bob Anderson took his defeat calmly, but the Pornell Academy students
were very bitter, Roy Bock and his cronies especially. Bock and the
others had lost considerable money on the contest and this galled them
exceedingly. They could not understand how the _Alice_ had forged ahead
when it looked as if she was beaten.
“Guess Century must have stood in with the Putnam Hall fellows,” growled
Bock.
“That is absolutely false!” cried one of the students who had helped to
sail the _Ajax_. A wordy war followed, and in the end Roy Bock got his
nose punched, which made him more angry than ever.
Ritter, Paxton and Coulter were much downcast by the way the race had
terminated. All their plans to do Jack’s boat an injury had failed, and
how they were going to meet their money obligations they did not know.
“We are up against it good and hard,” said Ritter.
“I’ve got a plan,” said Coulter. “Roy Bock is dead sore over this. He
thinks there was some understanding between Century and Jack Ruddy. Let
us see if we can’t get him to make some kind of a protest, and we can
back him up in it. Perhaps we can have the bets declared off.”
This plot met with instant favor at Reff Ritter’s hands and he lost no
time in interviewing Roy Bock. Bock did not want to run the risk of
another encounter with the Century crowd, yet he, too, could not afford
to lose the money he had staked on the contest.
“Let us talk this over all around,” said he, and called in several of
his cronies. Later he and his friends, with Ritter, Paxton and Coulter,
went to one of the judges of the contest.
“We think this race ought to be declared off,” said Bock.
“For what reason?” demanded the gentleman, in astonishment.
“We think the _Ajax_ lost the race on purpose,” went on Bock, and then
he told of how Jack and Fred Century were friends, and how the young
major had assisted those on the _Ajax_ when that craft had capsized.
“Fred Century does not like it at Pornell Academy and is going to leave
at the end of this term,” Bock went on. “I am certain he threw the race
into the hands of the Putnam Hall cadets.”
“So am I,” added Ritter boldly, and then he spoke of a talk he had
overheard between Jack, Pepper and Fred Century. He said that there
could not be the slightest doubt but what Century had played into Jack
Ruddy’s hands, and Coulter and Paxton said the same.
This statement aroused a hot discussion, in which all the judges and
several outsiders took part.
“I consider every sloop was sailed honestly,” said one judge. “If ever a
race was won fairly this was won by the _Alice_.” Bock and Ritter
continued to talk, but the judges would not consider their protest, and
at last they had to withdraw much crestfallen.
Bock’s actions made a large number of the Putnam Hall cadets very
bitter, and on Saturday night there was something of a pitched battle
between Andy, Pepper, Dale and six other of the Putnam Hall boys and Roy
Bock and his gang. Blows were freely exchanged, and sticks and stones
were used, and Bock and his cohorts were forced to run away. Bock got a
black eye and Grimes had two of his front teeth loosened, while Gussic
had his coat split up the back from bottom to top. Of course the Putnam
Hall cadets suffered somewhat, but they went back to the school happy,
having driven the enemy from the field.
“We must get square for this,” said Grimes. “I’ll never rest until I pay
them back.”
“Right you are,” returned Roy Bock. “I wish I could get back at the
whole school.”
“That’s the talk,” added Gussic. “We ought to do something that will
make the whole crowd sore.”
“I’ll think up something,” said Bock. “Just give me a couple of days to
do it in.”
The report that Fred Century was going to leave Pornell Academy was
true. Fred was a bright, clean-hearted lad, and the manners of such
fellows as Bock and Grimes did not please him. More than this, when he
went to Doctor Pornell that individual treated him coolly.
“I have heard what Roy Bock has said,” said the doctor. “And I must
confess I am inclined to think that you sailed the race in such a
fashion as to please Putnam Hall.”
“Doctor Pornell, this is—is infamous!” cried Fred. “If you are going to
side with Bock I am going to leave this school at once!”
“As you please,” answered the master of the academy. He was in a
particularly bad humor that morning.
Fred Century was as good as his word. He walked to Cedarville that noon
and sent a special message to his father, relating what had occurred.
Mr. Century arrived at Pornell Academy the next morning, and a warm
discussion between him and Doctor Pornell followed, lasting an hour.
Then Fred packed his trunk and left the academy never to return.
“This disarranges my plans, Fred,” said his father, on the way to
Cedarville. “Your mother and I were going to Rome, you know. I do not
know what to do with you.”
“I know what I’d like to do,” answered Fred. “I’d like to go to Putnam
Hall. The fellows there are bright and up-to-date, and not such cads as
Bock and Grimes.”
“Hum!” mused Mr. Century. “Well, that might be arranged. I know Putnam
Hall has a fine reputation. I thought of sending you there in the first
place.”
The carriage was halted, and soon it was turned around and driven in the
direction of Putnam Hall. Arriving at that institution, Mr. Century went
in to interview Captain Putnam. When he came out to call his son he was
smiling.
“It is arranged, Fred, and you are to be a cadet here from to-day on.”
“Good enough!” cried the youth. “That suits me right down to the ground,
father!”
“In taking you as a pupil I think Captain Putnam is making something of
a sacrifice,” continued Mr. Century. “You know of this talk about the
boat race. Well, now some folks will cry ‘fraud’ louder than ever. But
Captain Putnam says he is willing to stand by what the judges decided,
especially as he has received word from Bob Anderson that he thinks the
race was a fair one.”
Fred was taken to the private office, and he shook hands warmly with
Captain Putnam.
“I know you are doing me a favor, Captain Putnam,” said the boy. “In
return I shall do all in my power to make myself a credit to your
school.”
“That is all I ask, Century,” answered the master of the Hall. “I
presume it will not be necessary for anybody to introduce you,” he
added, with a faint smile.
“No, sir—I know about a dozen of the boys already.”
“I will have your measure taken for a uniform—and have you assigned to
one of the dormitories,” went on Captain Putnam, and called in one of
his assistants. After Fred had been measured and his trunk had been
taken upstairs, Captain Putnam called in Jack.
“Major Ruddy, allow me to acquaint you with a new pupil, Frederic
Century,” he said.
“A new pupil!” cried the young major. “Why—er—is Fred coming to school
here?”
“I am, Jack. Aren’t you glad to have me?”
“I am delighted!” cried Jack, and smiled warmly. “But this is the
greatest surprise yet,” he continued. “I thought you were at Pornell.”
“Quit yesterday—and mighty glad to do it. I’ll tell you all about it
some other time.”
Fred Century was warmly welcomed by Pepper, Andy and the others. He was
put in a dormitory next to that occupied by Jack and his chums, the two
apartments being connected by a door which was rarely locked. He was
made to feel at home, and said over and over again he was more than
pleased over the change he had made.
“Doctor Pornell is as great a cad as some of his pupils,” said he to
Pepper. “How some of the better class of boys can stand him is more than
I can comprehend.”
“Well, some folks have more money than brains,” answered the Imp. “And
that’s the case with many of the Pornellites, I imagine.”
“Bock is down on Putnam Hall,” went on Fred. “He vows he will get
square.”
“We’ll watch out for him,” answered Pepper. “I reckon we can give him as
good as he sends.”