Fred Fenton on the Crew | Page 6

"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