All Aboard | Page 7

moment as though he had been a general of
division, and had won a great victory. The consciousness of having
arrived, unaided by mature minds, at a correct conclusion, was a
triumph in itself. He had exercised his thought, and it had borne him to
a right judgment. He was proud of his achievement, and hastened back
to the boat with the intelligence of the approval.
"What does he say?" asked half a dozen of the members.
"Let us get off first, and then we will talk about it," replied Frank.
"Bowman, let go the painter; cast off the stern lines, there. Now, back
her--steady."
"Tell us about it, Frank," said Charles Hardy, as the Zephyr glided clear
of the boat-house, out upon the deep waters of the lake.
"Ready--up!" continued Frank, and the eleven oars were poised
perpendicularly in the air.
"Down!"
The members had already begun to feel the inspiration of their favorite
amusement, and there appeared to have been nothing lost by the season
of inactivity which had passed away. They were as prompt and as
perfect in the drill as though they had practised it every day during the
winter. Although it was a moment of excitement, there was no undue
haste; every member seemed to be perfectly cool.
"Ready--pull!"
And the broad blades dipped in the water, and bent before the vigorous
arms of the youthful oarsmen.
"Starboard oars, cease rowing--back!" continued the coxswain, with

admirable dignity and self-possession; and the Zephyr, acted upon by
this maneuver, came about as though upon a pivot, without going either
backward or forward.
"Starboard oars, steady--pull!" and the rowers indicated by this
command caught the stroke, and the light bark shot ahead, with her
wonted speed, in the direction of Rippleton village.
"Zephyr, ahoy!" shouted some one from the shore.
"Tim Bunker--ain't it?" asked Charles.
"Yes."
"Humph! he needn't hail us like that. I was sure your father would
never permit him to join the club," continued Charles, who fancied that
he read in Frank's expression the disapproval of his father.
"You are in the wrong, Charley."
"Am I?"
"You are; my father cordially approved our action. Now, Zephyrs, I am
going up to Flat Rock to take him aboard; and I hope every fellow will
treat him well--just as though he had never done anything out of the
way. What do you say?"
"We will," they replied, with one voice.
"And then, if he does not walk straight, it will not be our fault. Treat
him as though he was the best fellow among us. Let nothing tempt us to
forget it."
Frank headed the boat towards the rock in the grove, and in a moment
the bow touched it.
Without waiting for an invitation, Tim jumped into the boat, and took
the vacant seat. Frank did not much like this forwardness: it was a little
too "brazen" to comport with his ideas of true penitence. But he did not
care to humble the "Bunker;" so he said nothing that would wound his
feelings.
"We are glad to see you, Tim; the club has this day elected you a
member, and our director has approved the vote," said Frank.
"Has he?" replied Tim, with a broad grin.
"And, if you like, we will go up to the boat-house, where you may sign
the constitution."
"Yes, I'll sign it," answered Tim, more as though it would be conferring
a favor on the club than as a duty he owed to his new friends.
Frank gave the necessary orders to get the boat under way again. Tim

handled his oar with considerable skill, and before they reached the
boat-house, he had learned to time his stroke with that of his
companions.
When they landed, Captain Sedley took Tim apart with him, and very
kindly told him what would be expected of him in his new relation,
urging him to be true to his good resolution, and assuring him that he
should never want for substantial encouragement so long as he
persevered in well doing. Tim hung his head down while he listened to
this kind advice; his answers were short, but they were all satisfactory,
so far as words could be taken as the index of his intentions.
Frank then read the constitution, and the new member listened to it
with attention. The stringent provisions of the sixth article, which
forbade swearing, indecent language, and other boyish vices, brought a
scarcely visible smile to his lips, and excited a doubt as to the success
of the experiment in the mind of the director.
"Now, Tim, you can sign it," said Frank.
"It's pretty strict--ain't it?" added Tim, with one of his peculiar grins, as
he took the pen that was handed to him. "You know I ain't used to
being quite