The Adventure Club Afloat | Page 7

months. He
is of medium height, rather thin, light complexioned and has peculiarly
pale eyes behind the round spectacles he wears. Joe is first baseman on
the Nine, and a remarkably competent one. He is slow of speech and
possesses a dry humour that on occasion can be uncomfortably ironical.
Beside him, Perry Bush is a complete contrast, for Perry is
large-limbed, rather heavy of build, freckle-faced, red-haired and jolly.
He has very dark blue eyes and, in spite of a moon-shaped countenance,
is distinctly pleasing to look at; he is sixteen.
Neil Fairleigh and Phil Street are of an age, seventeen, but in other
regards are quite unalike. Neil is of medium height, with his full
allowance of flesh, and has hair the hue of new rope and grey-blue eyes.
He is even-tempered, easy-going and, if truth must be told, somewhat
lazy. Phil Street is quite tall, rather thin and dark complexioned, a
nice-looking, somewhat serious youth whose infrequent smile is worth
waiting for. He is an Honor Man, a distinction attained by no other
member of our party save Steve. The last of the seven is Oscar Brazier,
and Ossie, as the boys call him, is sixteen years old, short and square,
strongly-made and conspicuous for neither beauty nor scholarly
attainments. Ossie has a snub nose, a lot of rebellious brown hair, red
cheeks and a wide mouth that is usually smiling. Renowned for his
good-nature, he is nevertheless a hard worker at whatever he
undertakes, and if he sometimes shows a suspicious disposition it is
only because his good-nature has been frequently imposed on.
When the last pencil had stopped scratching Joe gathered the slips
together and after a moment's figuring announced that Steve had been

elected Number One without a dissenting vote, that he himself had
been made Number Two and that Phil was Number Three. If Perry felt
disappointment he hid it, and when Phil declared that in his opinion
Perry should have been elected instead of him, since Perry was, so to
say, a charter member, Perry promptly disclaimed any desire of the
sort.
"No, thanks," he said. "If I was secretary I'd have to keep the accounts
and all that sort of thing, and I'm no good at it. You're the very fellow
for the job, Phil."
The assemblage broke up shortly after, to meet again that evening at
eight, Steve undertaking to have a map on hand then so that they might
plan their cruise. As none of the seven was bound to secrecy, what
happened is only what might have been expected. By the time the ball
game was half over Steve and Joe had received enough applications for
membership in the Adventure Club to have, in Joe's words, filled an
ocean liner. It is probable that a large proportion of the applicants could
not have obtained permission to join the expedition, but they were each
and all terribly enthusiastic and eager to join, and it required all of
Steve's and Joe's diplomacy to turn them away without hurting their
feelings. Wink Wheeler--his real name was Warren, but no one ever
called him that--refused politely but firmly to take no for an answer.
Wink said he didn't care where he bunked and that he never ate
anything on a boat, anyway, because he was always too seasick to
bother about meals.
"One more won't matter, Steve," Wink pleaded. "Be a good chap and
let me in, won't you? My folks are going out to California this Summer
and I don't want to go, and they'll let me do anything I like. Tell you
what, Steve. If you'll take me I'll buy something for the boat. I'll make
the club a present of--of a tender or an anchor or whatever you say!"
Steve found it especially hard to turn Wink down, because he liked the
fellow, just as everyone else did. Wink was eighteen and had been five
years getting through school, but he was a big, good-hearted, jovial boy,
and, as Steve reflected, one who would be a desirable companion on
such an adventure as had been planned. Steve at last told Wink that he

would speak to the others about him that evening, but that Wink was
not to get his hopes up, and Wink took himself off whistling cheerfully
and quite satisfied. But when Steve tentatively broached the matter of
including one more member in the person of Wink Wheeler, Joe
staggered him by announcing that he had promised Harry Corwin to
intercede for the latter.
"He pestered the life out of me," explained Joe ruefully, "and I finally
told him I'd ask you fellows. But I suppose we can't take two more.
Nine would--um--be rather overdoing it, eh?"
Everyone agreed that it would. Han suggested that Wink Wheeler and
Harry