A BOAT CLUB MEETING
"Great news, Fred! Our boat's come!"
"Come on down to the railroad yards, and see her, Fred!"
Two boys stood outside the Fenton cottage, and shouted these words up
at Fred Fenton, who was leaning from the window of his room. It was
several days after the events narrated in the preceding chapters, and
Fred had meanwhile gone quietly on his way, saying not a word about the
accident, whereby little Billy Lemington would have surely lost his
life only for the good luck that brought Fred and Bristles to the river
in time.
Fred had not happened to run across Buck Lemington since, and hence did
not know whether or not the bully had been told about Bristles and
himself arriving with the canoe.
Of course Fred made haste to rush out of the house at hearing the news
brought by Bristles Carpenter and Sid Wells, the latter his most
particular chum.
"When did it arrive?" he demanded, adjusting his cap as he came up, and
immediately falling into step with the other eager fellows as they
hurried off.
"Last night, I reckon," replied Sid. "I just happened to wander down
there this morning, never thinking to run across a surprise, when what
did I see but a long crate, and inside that a splendid eight-oar shell,
just what we ordered with that money we earned in the winter, giving
minstrel shows and gymnastic performances. It's a great day for
Riverport school, fellows; and well have a dandy time this summer,
believe me!"
"I wish Mechanicsburg or Paulding would get a boat like ours, and give
us a race on the river," remarked Bristles, eagerly.
"Say, wouldn't that be just the best ever?" Sid went on; "we beat 'em
out at baseball, and on the gridiron; perhaps we might win another
victory on the water. The Mohunk is a good stream for rowing, at
certain times of the year."
"I suppose a lot of the boys are down there right now, all talking
about what a great time this summer will be for the nine lucky fellows,
and their substitutes?" remarked Fred, as they walked on into the town;
for the Fenton's lived a little way outside.
"Why, nearly the whole school is down there, and such jabbering you
never heard," laughed Sid.
Bristles tried to catch the eye of the third member of the group.
"Yes," he remarked, with emphasis, "and Buck Lemington, he's there on
deck, big as ever. To hear him talk you'd think he was already made
coxswain of the crew, and could lord it over the rest of us like a
king."
"That's always his way, to claim everything at the first, and then give
up a little, inch by inch," declared Sid. "There are just seventeen
members of the rowing club, all picked out as being the best in the
school. And who will be coxswain depends on the vote they'll take at
the meeting to-night. I know one right now who'll never vote; for Buck
Lemington."
"Make it two, just for luck," Bristles said, with a grin; "and there
are others to be heard from, also. Between you and me and the
lamp-post, boys, I reckon Buck will get just five votes, besides his
own; and they'll come from his cronies, Whitey, Clem Shocks, Oscar
Jones, Con Jimmerson and Ben Cushing. The rest will go in another
direction that I won't mention right now."
He and Sid exchanged winks and nods as though there might be a secret
between them; but Fred was paying no attention to this "wireless
telegraphy."
"Tell me, did you run across Buck, yourself, Bristles?"
"Sure I did," replied the other; "and that was just what I was goin' to
tell you about. He came swaggering up to me, just like he always does,
you know, and wanted to know what business I had in _his_ canoe--that
he heard you'n me was seen fastening up alongside his boathouse t'other
day."
"And what did you say?" demanded Fred, smiling at the aggressive manner
of the boy who had the mop of hair.
"Me? Oh! I pretended that we'd found the little boat driftin' down the
river, and waded in to get her," Bristles went on.
"Of course he didn't believe you?" Fred questioned.
"Not much. But I didn't get riled up worth a cent, Fred, just grinned
in his face, and kept on saying it _was_ so, and we _did_ find the boat
adrift. Then, what d'ye think, he says that Bob Armstrong told him the
paddle was all the while in the woodshed, so if the canoe did break
loose, however in the world could it have been with the boat, 'less we
took it?"
"We know, all right; don't we, Bristles? Oh! never mind winking, and
looking at Sid here, because I told him all about it, and he'll never
peach; will you, Sid?"
"Not much," replied the other, promptly; "all the same, I think you're
doing the wrong thing to keep so close-mouthed about it. I'd just glory
in telling Buck how his little brother Billy would have been drowned if
you hadn't happened to be nearby when he was pitched out of the canoe."
"Well, we made up our minds to keep quiet about it," Fred continued,
quietly; "and what Buck believes cuts mighty little figure in it. But
there's the railroad yard, and what a mob of boys and girls I've seen
since school closed. Whew! I should think every fellow in town had got
wind of it by this time; and I'm the last to know."
There was indeed great excitement around the spot where lay the long
shell, cased in its stout crate, having been lifted off the car upon
which it had come from the boat-building establishment.
Temporary quarters had been arranged for, until some later date, when
possibly a new boathouse might be erected, provided the town people
contributed the amount necessary.
That night, in the schoolhouse, there was called a meeting of the
members of the Riverport Boat Club in order to transact business of
great importance. Buck Lemington was more friendly than he had ever
before been known. But those boys who knew him so well understood what
his sudden conversion meant. He aspired to fill the important position
of coxswain on the crew, and was figuring to gain the votes of a
majority of those entitled to pass judgment and select officers.
It was well known that Brad Morton, the same boy who had carried the
football team to victory during the last season, as captain, had once
rowed in a racing shell when visiting a relative in a college town. And
his name had been mentioned pretty much in opposition to Buck, who also
claimed to have had experience.
And as the coxswain was to have the power of choosing the members of
his crew, it can be seen that the position was one carrying a certain
amount of influence with it. As only eight fellows could be given
places on the regular crew in the shell, and Buck's five cronies were
all eager to be ranked as members, they electioneered for him most
industriously.
Fred had been given the place as chairman of the meeting, and he tried
to carry out the duties of his position without fear or favor. What he
wished to see was a square deal, with the best man winning out.
After considerable talk, in which many of the boys joined, two
candidates for the position of coxswain were put in nomination, Buck
and Brad. And each had a noisy send-off when his backer started to tell
what virtues as a coxswain the candidate possessed.
"Move we vote!" shouted Bristles Carpenter, anxious to get the agony
over.
"Question! A motion that we proceed to vote has been made, Mr.
Chairman!" called out Corney Shays, whose father was an old college
man, and had once, many years back, rowed in a junior four-oared race.
"Any second?" asked the Chairman.
"I second the motion!" came from half a dozen throats.
It was carried with a rush; and then the tellers went around, giving
each one a slip of paper on which he was to write the name of the
candidate he preferred to serve as coxswain during the season that was
at hand.
A few minutes later the tellers collected the slips, which were
accurately counted, so that there should be no chance of fraud or
mistakes. Then the result was announced by the chairman, as written out
by the tellers.
"Whole number of votes cast, seventeen. For Buck Lemington, six votes;
for Brad Morton eleven. Which, being a majority, makes Brad Morton the
coxswain of the Riverport Boat Club."
Then a great uproar broke out, all of the boys shouting or cheering.
Those who had voted for Buck Lemington, taking cue from their leader,
declared that the election had not been fairly carried on; and that had
all those interested in the club been allowed to vote, and not just
those who expected to take part in the actual rowing, he would have
carried the day.
Buck himself was crimson with rage. He never could take defeat in a
manly way, but burst into a passion. Jumping up, he rallied his five
cronies around him. There was mutiny in the air, Fred saw, nor was he
in his heart at all sorry, for Buck had promised to be the disturbing
element in the association from the start.
"Cheat me out of the position, will you?" he shouted, shaking his fist
at the others, after the shouting had stopped, and everybody was
staring at him; "make Brad Morton coxswain when I know more about the
duties of the job in a minute than he can in a year! All right, I'm
going to wash my hands of the whole bunch; and here's five husky
fellers that'll go along with me. Keep your old boat, if you want to. I
expected somethin' like this'd happen; and let me tell you, fellers,
we've been up to Grafton to see an eight-oar shell that once won a
college race. We've got an option on her, too, and just understand
we'll buy her in, challenge your crowd to a race, and beat you to
flinders! Come along, fellers, we don't train with this crowd any
more," and the six stalked out of the building with sneers on their
faces, amid a dead silence.