CHAPTER XVII
IN THE BOAT
When, on the following Saturday, Coach Kirk again visited Hillton, Dickhad a sorry report to make: Taylor obdurate; Waters gone; two membersof the second squad ill.
“Taylor absolutely refuses, eh?” said the coach, studying Dick’s face.“Well, if he won’t he won’t, and we must do our best without him. AndWaters has dropped out, too, you say? He was at five, wasn’t he? Well,that’s another good man lost. You’ve tried to persuade him to comeback?”
“Yes; I did all I could.”
“Ah! Is Waters a particular friend of Taylor’s?”
“I think they’re rather chummy.”
“I see. Well, Hope, I can’t pass behind you in this matter; it’s yourbusiness to look after the fellows, and if you can’t get them to stayin training, that ends it. We must do the best we can with what we’vegot. We’ll try Nesbitt at four to-day, and put Rankin of the secondsquad into Waters’s place. And, by the way, we’d better divide thesecond; make a third squad. That will leave two over, won’t it? Twomen, I mean? I thought so. I wish to goodness we had a second set ofmachines here. However---- By the way, Hope, you’re not looking veryfit to-day; feel pretty well, do you?”
“Yes; I’m all right; didn’t sleep very steady last night, I guess.”
“Well, you’ll have to look after yourself carefully. If you go off yourfeed we _will_ be in a hole. Now I want to see Beck a minute or twobefore we start to rowing.” And Kirk strode out onto the floor, and ashe went he said to himself: “Plain as daylight; Hope and Taylor areat loggerheads, and Taylor’s persuaded Waters to leave. Nice state ofaffairs!”
February passed into March, and March, after performing its usualæolian repertoire, subsided toward the end of its reign in preparationfor a lamblike exit. And one morning Dick pushed up the blind and,according to his custom of weeks past, looked toward the river. And,lo, the water sparkled deeply blue under a springlike sun, and, savefor a patch here and there along the margins and in the lee of theislands, was clear of ice.
“The river’s open at last!” he shouted to Trevor. And that youthhurried to the window to see the marvel with his own eyes.
“Good work! I say, Dick, it looks warm enough to go in swimming. Willwe get out to-day?”
Dick shook his head.
“I guess we’ll wait until Saturday.”
“Saturday! But, jumping jiminy, this is only Tuesday!” exclaimedTrevor. “How can you expect a chap to grind away in the gym on a daylike this?” He pushed the window up and threw himself over the sill,kicking his heels delightedly and breathing in the fresh, moist airgreedily. A fringe of icicles above dripped water down onto his bareneck, and he giggled hysterically. “Just like a needle bath,” hesputtered.
“Come on and get dressed,” said Dick, “and let’s go over to breakfast.”
“All right; wait until I eat an icicle.” He reached up and broke offseveral. “Have one?”
“No, and no more will you,” replied Dick, knocking them out of hishand. “When you’re in training for the boat you can’t eat icicles;they’ll give you pains in your tummy.”
“Rot,” said Trevor; “there’s nothing more healthful than a niceunderdone icicle just before breakfast.”
The boat-house on the following Saturday afternoon was a scene ofmuch activity and color. The fellows turned out almost to a man fora look at the crews at work, and the second and third squad stood byand watched enviously while their more fortunate friends lifted oneof the long cedar shells from the house and placed it in the water atthe end of the float. The coxswain, an upper middle lad named Keene,called the numbers, and, one by one, Trevor by virtue of his place atfour, leading, the first squad entered the boat. Kirk contented himselfto-day with a point of vantage on the landing, for the tiny naphthalaunch was not yet ready for duty.
“Get your feet into the stretchers, men, and see how they feel. How isthat, Six, too long? Hold her steady, you fellows. That’s better, isn’tit?” And when the last stretcher had been placed to suit: “Keene, keepthe boat in the stretch here by the landing and inshore as much as youcan. All right.”
“Get ready,” called the coxswain. The boat was pushed off from thefloat. “Forward!” The crew moved up with their slides. “Paddle!” andthe shell floated out into the stream, her bow pointing up the river.“Easy all!” The paddling ceased and the boat lay motionless. “Forward!”The eight bodies bent. “Are you ready? Row!” and the blades swirledthrough the water and the boat leaped forward. Dick, at stroke, pulledleisurely, and after the first three or four strokes the rest of theeight caught the time, and the locks clicked in unison. At a littledistance up-stream the boat was turned, and, with the same long,leisurely stroke, was brought back and past the landing, where Kirk,eagle-eyed, watched the work silently. Down-stream the shell was againturned, and, when it was once more opposite the float, was brought to astop.
“Seven, keep your eyes in the boat and watch the stroke,” called Kirk.“Five, you’re too late every time. Four, you don’t finish out. Bringyour hands home. Two, keep your shoulders down at the finish. Cox,watch the boat; coming down just now she rolled like a log; keep an eyeon Three and Bow; I think they’re the offenders. Try it again.”
And off went the boat once more, turned, passed the landing, andfinally was again brought up that the coach might continue hiscriticism. Then the first squad was released and the second was givena few minutes instruction in watermanship, merely taking their placesin the boat, handling the oars and paddling to and fro about the float.The third squad followed, and as each was released it was sent off fora run.
Among the fellows who watched the work of the crews that afternoon wasRoy Taylor. It would, perhaps, be more truthful to say that he dividedhis watching between the crew and the coach. And from the latter helearned as much as from the former, and what he saw was evidently tohis liking, for he went off up the steps whistling thoughtfully butwith satisfaction.
“I’ll give Hope another three weeks to come around,” he said tohimself, as he passed Society House and turned toward Academy Building.“If by that time he hasn’t consented to give me the captaincy,I’ll--I’ll eat my hat. I never saw such a duffer in a boat as thatfellow they had to-day in my place at seven. And Kirk thinks the sameway, too; he tried to hide what he felt, but I know his way of tuggingat his mustache and grinning pleasantly when he is worried; and he wasworried to-day, all right. And I don’t blame him”--with a grin--“forthere are three men in that first squad that wouldn’t last half a milein a race with a girls’ school! Oh, yes, I guess old Hope will bearound to see me before long!”
And Taylor pushed his way past the green leather doors of the libraryand, finding a book, went busily to work with pad and pencil--forwhatever else might have been said about Roy Taylor, he was at leastdiligent at his studies, and stood high in his class.
Dick, followed by Trevor and the rest of the first squad, finished amile run over the soft road, and came swinging up to the gymnasium anhour before supper-time, panting and tuckered, but in a most enjoyableglow and with appetites that protested strongly against the time thatmust elapse ere they could be satisfied. After a shower-bath Dickand Trevor walked across to Masters together, and, pulling a blanketover their feet, perched themselves on the broad window-seat in thelingering glow of the sun, and leaned back luxuriously against thepillows. Ever since the morning four days previous, when Dick hadlooked out to find the Hudson clear of ice, the boys had scorned fires,and, although the room had a way of getting cold toward evening, theyinsisted that spring had come, and that wood fires were a survival ofthe dark ages of midwinter. Trevor stretched his arms and yawned, andthe Latin book on his lap fell unheeded to the floor.
“That was something like, to-day,” he said. “It was worth all that workin the gym, every minute of it. I say, Dick, Kirk looked rather wellsatisfied with us, I thought, eh?”
“He looked that way,” answered Dick, “but don’t deceive yourself intothinking that h
e felt so. Not a bit of it; he was grumpy clean through;you could tell that by his grin; he always grins when he’s grumpy;makes you think of the--thingumbob--what is it that cries when it eatspeople?”
“Mouse?” asked Trevor innocently.
“Get out! Crocodile, I mean. That’s Kirk’s way. No, he wasn’t happyto-day, and I don’t blame him, for, oh, Trevor, my child, Jones fillsTaylor’s place about as well as a wax doll would. And Rankin meanswell, but hasn’t got it in him, and Arnold’s just a makeshift, afterall; I thought he was going to prove a good man; and Milton doesn’tseem to understand what he’s doing half the time.”
“And Nesbitt rows as though he was chopping wood,” laughed Trevor, witha questioning accent.
“Nesbitt will do, I guess, after he’s been at it a little longer,”answered Dick. “Hang it all! I rowed like a kid to-day myself! I don’tknow what’s got into me. I wish--by Jove! I honestly do wish thatTaylor or anybody else was captain, Trevor!”
“Rot! What kind of a captain would Taylor make, for goodness’ sake?Cheer up, my hearty; you’ll feel better after supper.”
“Sha’n’t,” muttered Dick.
“Oh, yes, you will. What you need is some nice cold roast beef, milktoast, egg muffins, peach marmalade, and a cup of cocoa; with plenty ofmustard.”
“In the cocoa?” grinned Dick.
“Idiot! No, on the beef. That’s right, smile; keep it up; now you’refeeling better. And something tells me, Dick, that it’s pretty neartime to wash our nice little hands and faces. Say, let’s cut lessonsto-night and go over to the village and see Carl and Stewart, eh?”
And so it was agreed.
Spring vacation came, and for a week partially depopulated the academy,interfering sadly with crew work. Trevor joined his father in NewYork, and Stewart Earle went home; but Dick and Carl stuck to theirposts, Dick on the river and Carl on the baseball diamond, where hewas turning out a nine that was destined to be proudly remembered atHillton for many years. Dick found himself in full authority duringthe vacation week, for Malcolm Kirk had not as yet taken up hisresidence in the village, and with no recitations to attend he was ableto give almost his entire time to rowing affairs. Half of the firstsquad were away, but he filled the empty places from the second, putCrocker temporarily at stroke, and coached the impromptu crew from asmall boat in which he rowed frantically about in efforts to securesatisfactory points of observation. One rather bleak afternoon he wasin his tub just off the landing as the shell, returning from down theriver, swept abreast of him. He stood up on the thwarts, balancinghimself with an oar, in order to better view the work.
“Seven, you’re rowing light,” he called. “You begin to lower your handstoo early; your blade is half out of water at the finish. Five, youput your blade too deep.” The shell was passing now, and he raisedhis voice and unconsciously leaned forward. “Grip the water with theblade----”
There was a splash and a cry from the handful of loiterers on thefloat; the tub rocked merrily; Dick’s cap floated off down-stream, andDick had disappeared from sight.
“Hold hard all!” yelled the cox. Then, “Back all!” But ere the shellhad lost way enough to allow of its being paddled to the rescue, Dickhad reappeared a few yards down-stream, had made hand over hand for hisboat, and was clinging to the side, wiping the water from his face.
“At an angle!” he shouted, continuing his instructions as though nointerruption had occurred, “and then you won’t be likely to ‘slice.’Take ’em along, Keene; and, Stroke, lengthen out a bit!”
Amid the laughter of the onlookers the shell swept on again up theriver, and Dick crawled over the bow of his tub and put back to theboat-house for a change of clothing.
But despite his most heroic efforts, neither the first nor second squadworked well; there appeared to be lack of spirit; a sort of “What’sthe good of anything? Nothing!” feeling seemed to prevail among thecandidates, and the discouragement that had been growing on Dick eversince Taylor’s resignation now took possession of him wholly. IfTrevor had been there, he told himself, it wouldn’t have been so bad;he would have had some one to whom to confide his troubles; some onethat would have listened patiently to his groans and growls, and who,by his unfailing cheerfulness and good nature, would have won him fromhis “blues.” He missed Trevor a good deal; in the evenings especiallythe study seemed lonesome, and with none to talk to, Dick could gain noentertainment from books, but gathered his lists and memoranda of crewmen before him and pondered and studied over them until bedtime cameand he crawled between the covers fagged and low-spirited.
In the St. Eustace Academy paper he read glowing accounts of the Blue’seight that worried him yet more. Fifty-odd candidates had reportedthere for work shortly after the beginning of the new year; a spiritof enthusiasm reigned over the entire student body; the coach who hadpiloted the eight to a victory over Hillton the preceding spring hadagain taken hold, and the most encouraging prospect stretched beforethe rival school. With a groan he contrasted those conditions with theconditions which prevailed at Hillton; almost total indifference on thepart of the school at large; a woful deficiency in candidates, both asto numbers and quality; a financial state which, while robust enough tosupply the absolute necessities of the crews, was too slight to affordany of the extra expenditures that might in the struggle for successsmooth the path toward victory; and, last of all, but not least,intestine strife.
On one occasion, heartily wearied of his own company, Dick slammedthe door of Number 16 and plodded over the muddy roads to Carl Gray’sroom in the village. Carl’s welcome was enthusiastic enough, but toDick, with his own troubles everlastingly revolving themselves in hisbrain, the other lad’s chatter of baseball problems--none of them, Dickthought, weighty enough to cause a moment’s worry--only bored him;and he left early and made his way back to Masters and bed envious ofCarl’s good fortune and more down on his luck than before.
Vacation came to an end in the early April days, and Trevor and therest of the fellows returned to school, brightened and cheered in mindand body. Kirk also arrived, bag and baggage, and took up his quartersin the village, and Dick, with feelings of relief, mentally shoved aportion of his load of troubles onto the broad shoulders of the headcoach. Trevor viewed Dick’s appearance with alarm.
“What in the name of all that’s silly have you been doing to yourself?”he demanded. “You look like a brass farthing of an old and rarevintage! Been ill?”
“No,” answered Dick. And then, acting on a sudden impulse, anoverpowering desire for a confidant, he told Trevor everything; ofTaylor’s desertion and Waters’s; of his fears for crew success; andfinally of Taylor’s demands, ending with: “And I’ve decided to do it;I’m going to resign the captaincy and give him what he wants; I’m tiredto death of the whole silly business!”
“Oh, don’t talk so sick!” cried Trevor in angry disgust. “You’ll resignnothing! I--I’d see Taylor at the bottom of the river before I’d cometo terms with him! Give him the captaincy, indeed! Now, you get thatnotion out of your head, Dick, or I’ll--I’ll----”
“It’s all well enough for you to talk that way,” grumbled Dick, lettinghis discouragement have full sway and gaining not a little comfortthereby, “but I tell you things have come to a pass where something’sgot to be done! We haven’t any crew; they’re just a boatful of chumps;they don’t care a fig whether they ever learn to row! And look at therest of the fellows! They don’t care, either; they’d just as lief seeHillton beaten as not!”
“Rot!” ejaculated Trevor. “Of course they care. I’ll own they’reblooming chilly about it, but it’s because they don’t know what’sgoing on. And, look here, Dick, you’ve got no earthly right to resignfrom the captaincy for such a reason as that; if the fellows had wantedRoy Taylor for captain they’d have elected him. But they didn’t; theywanted you; so they elected you; and, by ginger, you’ve got to carrythe thing through!”
“Much the fellows care!”
“And, look here, now, Dick
, honestly, what kind of a fool captain wouldTaylor make?”
“As good as I, I dare say. He knows how to row----”
“That’s nothing; that doesn’t always fit a man to boss a lot of othermen; a good captain’s got to know more than just how to row. He’s gotto have grit, and patience, and generalship, and he’s got to be afellow that the other fellows will look up to and believe in and obey;and that’s not Roy Taylor, not by a jugful, my angel child!”
“Well,” began Dick less dolefully.
“Well, don’t you go to doing anything foolish. Cheer up; take a rest;let the crew go hang for a few days.”
“Can’t do that,” answered Dick. “Wish I could.”
“Well, anyhow, Dick, stop thinking about your troubles, like a goodfellow. And, if you won’t give up this bally resignation idea, why,promise not to do anything about it for--let me see--for two weeks;will you?”
And Dick grinned a trifle sheepishly and promised.