Kitabı oku: «Dick Merriwell's Trap: or, The Chap Who Bungled», sayfa 5
CHAPTER X – A MASTER OF HIMSELF
“Here he comes!”
A carriage, drawn by a handsome pair of horses, was approaching the academy. In front of the academy was a great gathering of plebes, nearly the entire class assembling there.
On their way from the gymnasium to their room, Dick Merriwell and Brad Buckhart paused.
“What’s up?” exclaimed the Texan, in surprise. “What are the plebes doing?”
“Here he comes!” cried some one in the crowd.
Dick’s keen eyes surveyed the approaching team and the occupants of the carriage.
“I believe I know what is up,” he said, a peculiar look on his face.
“Enlighten me,” urged his companion.
“Chester Arlington is returning to the academy, and his class is out to give him a reception. You know this is the day he was to come back.”
“Well, blow me if I don’t believe you’re right!” burst forth Brad. “I opine that he’s one of those in yonder carriage. But who would have thought he could pull such a stroke, even with his own class! So help me, I believe nine-tenths of the plebes are here to give him a greeting! I do, I know!”
“It looks that way,” said Dick, with a nod. “Arlington has made himself pretty solid with his class.”
“How did he do it?” sniffed the Texan wonderingly. “They must be a lot of snobs! Just because he happens to have a father who is a big railroad magnate – ”
“No fellow who ever came to Fardale has spent half the money Chester Arlington has spent,” said Dick.
“That’s right. He’s bought his friends by blowing himself on them. Well, I’ll allow I don’t care for that kind of friendship. It’s all off when the money plays out, you bet! Partner, the old hen is in the carriage with him!”
“Mrs. Arlington is there, yes.”
“And – and his sister!”
“Yes, June is with him.”
“Has he got clean over the fall he took?”
“I hear he has almost entirely recovered.”
“He got up mighty quick, it seems to me.”
“He did recover much sooner than was expected.”
“Pard, I opine he wasn’t hurt half as much as he made out.”
“I don’t know about that. Yes, I know he did not seem to have much of any strength in his legs the night of the fire in the hotel.”
“And you never got so much as thank you from the old hen! That shows the kind of stock he sprang from! She pretends to think all creation of him, and she should have gone down on her knees to you; but she’s such a cold-blooded old fossil that she couldn’t bring herself to thank you as she ought.”
“I desire no thanks from her,” said Dick grimly.
“What? When only a bit before she was threatening to have you arrested as a thief? Well, if I’d been in your boots, pard, I’d seen that she ate a large piece of humble pie. You hear me peep! I just would! It would have done her good.”
By this time the carriage was quite near the academy. As it swung round the drive and stopped, the plebes thronged about it and greeted Chester Arlington with cheers.
Chester smiled at this outburst and waved his hand at them. He turned to his mother and said:
“You can see how popular I am here. Now you can see how it would be if I had a square show.”
“My dear boy!” she said. “It is plain enough! Something shall be done.”
June Arlington was looking around. She was dressed in a tasty and stylish manner, and she was the kind of a pretty girl to set the plebes to making “goo-goo” eyes. However, she paid no attention to them. Her eyes had discovered Dick and Brad at a little distance beneath the leafless trees, and something like a faint smile came to her face.
“What’s the matter with Arlington?” shouted a plebe, waving his cap over his head.
“He’s all right!” bellowed the others.
“Who’s all right?” questioned the first speaker.
“Arlington!” rose from the gathering in a grand shout.
Chester rose and bowed with all the grace at his command.
“Thank you, fellows,” he said. “It does me proud to have my classmates welcome me back to school in this manner. At one time I feared I could not return so soon, but, fortunately, I was not injured nearly as much as was supposed at first, and I am almost all right now.”
“We’ve just said you were all right,” reminded one of the gathering.
Chester bowed and smiled again. When he chose he could be very pleasant in his manner, and it must be confessed that he was not entirely lacking in personal magnetism. True, he regarded himself as quite a superior party, but he was wise enough to court popularity with fellows he classed as far beneath his level.
This was not the case when he first came to Fardale. At that time he had been haughty and over-bearing to almost every one, and it had seemed he would soon have nothing but enemies, even in his own class. But he had found, not a little to his surprise, that he was not gazed on in awe as a superior person, that he could not domineer over whomever he chose, and that he was likely to find himself without popularity or power if he persisted in the course he had chosen.
That was not all. He had found that Dick Merriwell seemed to be the acknowledged leader in the school, and Dick soon betrayed the fact that he had no thought of permitting Chester to order him about or even to accept advice that was not to his liking. Dick had declined to take Chester on to the football-team unless he proved his efficiency and fitness for a position. And, therefore, it was not long before Arlington became Dick Merriwell’s bitterest enemy.
Then it was that Arlington set about the task of winning as many friends and followers as possible, and he began on his own class. The plebes wanted a leader, and Chester soon secured the position, which he determined to hold at any cost.
Dick Merriwell was generous to a fault, but, not believing in bought friendship, he did not sow his money with a lavish hand. He was more like the general run of boys, and from his behavior no one would have dreamed that on arriving at age he was to come into a fortune of mammoth proportions.
On no occasion, however, did Chester fail to impress on his friends and companions the fact that his father was one of the richest men in the country.
Chester’s little speech brought forth a storm of applause, and the boys pressed around him to shake his hand as he stepped down from the carriage.
Mrs. Arlington had seen June looking in the direction of two lads who stood beyond the crowd. She adjusted her spectacles and looked in the same direction.
“Is that young Merriwell?” she asked.
“Yes, mother,” answered June. “You said you were going to thank him for what he did.”
Chester Arlington’s mother heaved a sigh of mingled regret and resignation. Her haughty face seemed to say that it was an unpleasant duty she had to perform, but that she would try to go through it bravely and with the dignity becoming a woman of her station in life. She leaned over the side of the carriage and touched her son’s shoulder with her gloved hand.
“My dear boy,” she said, “I – er – ah – I perceive that – er – that young man, Merriwell, yonder. Will you have one of your friends invite him to step over here to the carriage?”
Two or three of the plebes heard her and hurried toward Dick at once.
“Be careful, mother,” warned Chester, in a low tone. “He mustn’t think he has done too much.”
“Trust me, my son,” she said, and her face hardened somewhat as she saw Dick Merriwell advancing toward the carriage.
The plebes made room for Dick to pass. He removed his cap and bowed with grace and politeness to both Mrs. Arlington and June. June spoke, giving him a smile.
Mrs. Arlington seemed to hesitate a moment, and then she began, with that same haughty, chilling air that was offensive, to say the very least:
“I feel it my duty, Mr. Merriwell, to thank you for your action in assisting my son to escape from the burning hotel. Without doubt Chester would have been able to descend the ladder alone, but the fact that you rendered him some aid makes it necessary to thank you.”
Her words were like a slap in the face. Dick saw June turn pale, and he knew she had not anticipated this graceless act from her mother. Now, Dick Merriwell was not always cool and restrained, but on this occasion he was master of himself, even though he felt that the thanks he had received were as much an insult as anything else. He bowed again.
“If I rendered Mr. Arlington any assistance,” he said, “I am glad I was able to do so, for the sake of” – he looked at June – “those who are attached to him.”
Chester Arlington saw that glance, and it enraged him. He knew Merriwell had not helped him from the hotel because of a feeling of regard or liking for him, and he believed Dick did it purely for the purpose of playing the hero before June.
What he did not know was that Dick Merriwell would have done exactly the same had June not been concerned in any way. In such an emergency Dick would not have hesitated to go to the aid of any unfortunate human being caught in the fire-trap, casting aside all thoughts of friendship or enmity.
“Oh, I know the fellow!” thought Chester. “He can’t deceive me with his mock heroism.”
And he did not dream that he was a most ungrateful fellow to entertain such a thought.
“I trust,” said Mrs. Arlington, “that in the future there may be no further misunderstandings between you and my son. It seems that at last you must be aware of the fact that Chester is a young gentleman and that it will be to your advantage to treat him as such. I am willing to overlook the past.”
“Which is exceedingly kind of you!” said Dick, who could not entirely hide the sarcasm in his voice.
“I think you should be equally generous,” declared the woman. “You can see how exceedingly popular my son is here at the school, and it must be plain that it will be to your benefit in the future to consult the wishes of one who has such a following.”
Buckhart had drawn near, and he found it hard to keep from informing Mrs. Arlington that where her son had one real friend at Fardale Dick Merriwell had twenty.
“But it’s not my funeral,” he muttered; “and I opine Dick won’t thank me for mixing in, so I’ll keep my tongue between my teeth.”
Dick said nothing. It was impossible for him to speak the words he longed to utter, so he chose to remain silent.
“I have entertained thoughts of taking my son out of this school,” continued Mrs. Arlington; “but have finally concluded to let him remain, even though his superior abilities have not been properly recognized here. I understand that you are in a class ahead of him, and, having been here longer, you are able to use your power to retard his advancement. This I regard as quite unjust, and I hope you will cease to interfere with him in the future.”
“Don’t worry about that, madam,” said Dick. “I assure you that, in the future, as in the past, I will let him alone if he does not trouble me.”
“But he is ambitious, and his ambitions here will be readily attained, I am sure, if your influence is not brought to bear against him.”
“As long as he seeks to do me no injury, I shall let him quite alone, you may be sure of that.”
“Then I see no reason why there should be further trouble. As for this matter of football, of course Chester will be unable to play this season. In fact, I do not wish him to play at all; but he has set his heart upon it, and I never deny him anything.”
For that very reason she had spoiled her son, although he was not aware of it.
“Next year,” she went on, “he may wish to play. If he remains here, I am sure that, by that time, his superiority will be so apparent that any jealous enemy will be quite unable to balk him.”
In plain words, she meant that Dick was jealous of her son, and the idea made young Merriwell smile.
“Here, madam,” he said, “no one ever gets on the football-team without proving their fitness.”
“I am sure my son could have shown you that he had played on excellent teams in the past.”
“What any one has done before coming here does not count; it is what he proves himself able to do here. Mr. Arlington could have come out with the other candidates and tried for a place on the team; but he seemed to think he would be taken on anyhow, for some reason or other.”
“And why not?” exclaimed Mrs. Arlington. “I am sure I do not understand why Chester should be required to take the same chance as any common fellow.”
“This is the common fellow’s country, madam. If he proves himself worthy to rise he rises, and no power can hold him down. Birth or wealth cannot place one on top and keep him there unless he has the brains and ability to stay.”
“I hope you do not mean to insinuate that my son hasn’t brains?” exclaimed the indignant woman.
“I am not given to insinuating remarks. If I have anything to say, I say it plainly.”
She was offended, for this youth looked her straight in the eyes and spoke without the least symptom of cringing or fawning. Her wealth or social position did not awe or overcome him in the slightest degree. This was something to which she was not accustomed, and, therefore, it gave her great displeasure.
Chester was angry, too, and he said:
“Do not waste further words, mother. You have thanked him, and that is all that is necessary. Good-by, mother. Good-by, June. Wait till you come back to Fardale again, and you’ll find out how things stand. There will be a change.”
He said this with an insolent look toward Dick, who seemed quite unaware that he had spoken.
“Mr. Merriwell,” said June, leaning from the carriage, “I hope you will accept my sincere thanks for your many brave and generous acts. I feel that – ”
He lifted his hand, smiling.
“Don’t overwhelm me with thanks, please!” he exclaimed. “It places me in an awkward position.”
“Then I will say no more. I know you are not one to seek praise and thanks. We may not meet again for a long time, so I will say good-by.”
She held out her gloved hand.
“June!” said Chester quickly, “I wish to say a word to you.”
He stepped between Dick and his sister instantly, preventing Dick from taking the proffered hand. What he said was spoken in a low tone, and Mrs. Arlington immediately directed the driver to start. So the carriage rolled away, and all Dick received was a smile and parting wave from June’s hand. Inwardly he was boiling, and he longed to knock Arlington down.
Chester looked at him, laughed and turned to his classmates, who once more gathered about him.
Brad Buckhart came striding up.
“For the love of Heaven, pard,” he hissed in Dick’s ear, “let me soak him for you, if you can’t do it! I’ll make him think he was kicked by a mule! You hear me!”
But Dick was a complete master of himself, and he took Brad’s arm, turning once more toward the academy steps.
“We’ll go to our room,” he said, in an unruffled tone of voice.
CHAPTER XI – BOUND BY A PROMISE
A number of Dick’s friends had gathered in his room to discuss football matters. There was considerable excitement on the team.
“Hi say has ’ow it’s a blooming mistake!” excitedly declared Billy Bradley, striking an attitude in the middle of the room, “We ’ave no business to play with those ’owling toffs, don’t y’ ’now!”
“Oh, dear me!” piped up Ted Smart, who was sitting on the table. “How can you talk so, Sir William! I am surprised at you! Why, they are perfect gentlemen! Think how finely we were used the last time we were in Uniontown! It makes my heart thrill with pleasure to think of that occasion!”
“Huah!” grunted big Bob Singleton. “I suppose you mean the only time we ever were in Uniontown, and that was when we played the U. A. A. that game of baseball last spring.”
“That was a fuf-fuf-fuf-fuf-fuf – ” spluttered Chip Jolliby, and then he stamped on the floor and made wild grabs in the air in his desperate endeavor to get hold of the word he was trying to utter.
“Whistle, Chip!” cried several, laughing at his comical contortions.
“Whew!” whistled Chip. “That was a fuf-fuf-fuf – whew! – fine old time! Why, they dud-drugged Dick, and we had to fuf-fuf-fuf – whew! – fight for our lives. We all sus-sus-sus-said we’ll never go there again.”
“They’re coming here,” squeaked Obediah Tubbs. “We’ll jest wipe ’em all over the field, see if we don’t. Dern my picter! you watch me sail inter ’em!”
“I’d like to play one clean game of football!” grunted Singleton, his face wearing a look of disgust. “I’m getting sick of this rough-house business. What do you say, Captain Merriwell?”
Dick had been sitting quite still, as he listened to the talk of the others. He was standing with his elbow against the corner of the mantel-shelf.
“Fellows,” he said, “we are in for it, as the athletic committee has decided to accept Uniontown’s offer to fill Rivermouth’s engagement. We’ll have to play the game.”
“But that’s not saying what you think about it,” said big Bob. “Why were you not consulted about this change?”
Dick shook his head.
“I presume they thought it wasn’t necessary.”
“You’re the manager of the team.”
“But I do not arrange the schedule, you know.”
“All the same, you should have some say about a change of this sort. What?”
“It’s settled now,” said Dick, “and we’ll have to make the best of it. We trounced those fellows at baseball last spring, for all of their tricks.”
“Bub-bub-bub-but it was a close sus-sus-sus-shave,” put in Jolliby. “They pup-pup-pup-pup – whew! – played all kuk-kinds of dirty tricks to beat us.”
“And this ain’t no school team,” put in Tubbs. “It’s a so-called athletic club team, and they kin be as dirty as they please. I’m agin’ playing ’em.”
“And I!” repeated several others.
“It’s too late to back out now,” said Dick. “If I had known there was any talk of making this arrangement I would have gone before the committee and fought against it.”
“The committee knew what it was doing,” put in big Bob grimly. “It knew all about our trouble with the U. A. A. baseball-team, and it knew we had declared we would never have anything further to do with that association.”
“For years,” said Dick, “Fardale has desired to enter into contests with U. A. A. because of the money there is in it. Eaton has had the privilege, and this school has been very jealous of Eaton. Last spring Uniontown gave us a baseball-game to fill in an open date, and we beat their team.”
“Wasn’t it a shame!” exclaimed Smart. “We were so sorry to do it!”
“We beat them,” said big Bob; “but think of the fight we had! Uniontown is full of gamblers who bet on their team. The Union Athletic Association is not a straight amateur organization, no matter what it claims. It rings in professionals. Its members and officers make money betting on their teams and their men. That is a well-known fact.”
“No one denies it,” said Dick. “They expected to find us easy, but there was one fellow who took a fancy to put me out of the game, thinking that would make it a sure thing for Uniontown.”
“Sus-sus-so it would,” asserted Chip, “You were the only pup-pup-pup-pup – ”
“The other feller was the ‘pup,’” laughed Obediah Tubbs. “He! he! he! Wasn’t that a funny joke!”
“The only pup-pup-pitcher we had,” stuttered the lank boy, completing the sentence after a terrible struggle to give it utterance.
“Well, this thug failed to knock you out,” said Singleton. “His drug was taken by me by accident, instead of you. And then – ”
“And then,” said Smart, “he sprinkled Captain Dick on the field with one of those buttonhole-bouquet arrangements that squirts water in your eyes.”
“Only his arrangement was not filled with water,” said Dick.
“Hardly!” exclaimed Singleton. “He had something in it that made you blind, and you pitched the last inning when you could scarcely see the batter.”
“And cuc-cuc-cuc-cuc – ”
“Cut-cut-cadawcut!” cackled Smart.
“Cuc-cuc – whew! – caught a hot liner right off the bat, putting out the last man,” said Jolliby. “That was what bub-bub-broke their hearts.”
“No; it was giving up the biggest share of the gate-money that broke their hearts,” laughed Dick.
“We can do ’em again!” piped Obediah Tubbs.
“I think we can,” nodded Dick; “but, as Singleton said, this business of playing with dirty teams is becoming tiresome. Franklin had a lot of ringers, for I have learned beyond a doubt that their man Gray, as he was called, was Plover, the professional. The Trojan A. A. tried to defeat us by roughing it, and we have been up against that kind of business generally. It would be a pleasure to play one good, clean game with a school team in our class. It is this slugging, kicking, and general rough-house playing that makes so many persons down on football. At best, it is not a ladies’ game, but it is not brutal when properly played.”
“It will be a fight from start to finish with U. A. A.,” said Singleton. “Those fellows will want revenge for their defeat at baseball, and they will try to get it by knocking the stuffing out of us.”
“It’s likely you are right about that,” nodded Dick; “but we must be ready for anything. We must go into the game determined to win, and I feel confident we can do it.”
“Even if we do win,” said Bob, “it does not excuse the athletic committee for their blunder in arranging this game. How in the world they came to do it is what I cannot understand.”
“I ’eard as ’ow they were divided hon the matter,” said Bradley. “John Warwick was against hit.”
“And he isn’t sore a bit!” grinned Smart, as usual meaning exactly opposite what he said. “He’s delighted over it.”
“It may be a mistake,” said big Bob; “but the report has leaked out that the committee was divided on the matter, and that Warne, the chairman, was compelled to vote to decide it.”
There came a knock on the door,
“Come in,” called Dick.
Earl Gardner entered.
“Have you heard the latest, boys?” he asked.
“The latest joke?”
“No; the latest news. Warwick has resigned from the athletic committee.”
“No?” they exclaimed, in astonishment.
“It’s straight goods, fellows,” asserted Gardner. “He has taken himself off the committee, and says he will have nothing further to do with it. He has made his resignation in writing, too.”
“But it may not be accepted,” said Dick, who was very sorry to know that John Warwick had done such a thing.
“It has been accepted already,” said Earl. “Why, even now the fellows are beginning to discuss who shall take Warwick’s place on the committee.”
“Look out, captain!” breathed Singleton. “If they get the wrong man on that committee you’ll have no end of trouble, for it will be solid against you. It’s up to you to get busy.”
There was a heavy step in the corridor and the door flew open and admitted Brad Buckhart, who strode into the room. One glance at Brad showed that he was excited and angry.
“Say!” he growled; “do you fellows know what’s brewing round this old academy? Well, I’ll tell you. Warwick has taken himself off the committee, and already there is a candidate in the field who is working hard for the place. There is to be a meeting tonight to elect another man for the place, and the man who is after it mustn’t have it.”
“Why not? Who is he?” breathlessly asked the boys.
“He’s Chester Arlington,” said Brad; “and that is answer enough why he should not have the position. You hear me whisper!”
Naturally Buckhart was excited. The thought of having Chester on the athletic committee, where he could use his influence in running the affairs of the eleven, was enough to arouse the Texan.
Dick heard Brad’s words without the quiver of a muscle. His lips were pressed together, and there seemed a hardening of his jaw, but that was all.
An excited discussion started at once, but every fellow present seemed to feel that it would be a serious misfortune to have Arlington get on to the committee.
“He can’t git there anyhow,” squeaked Obediah Tubbs.
“He can unless the right influence is brought to bear against him,” declared Brad. “He’ll do anything to make the position. He’ll spend money like water, and he seems to have a barrel of it to spend.”
“But it cuc-cuc-can’t be the fellows here will be bub-bub-bought!” exclaimed Jolliby.
“Wait and see!” said Brad. “This galoot, Arlington, is mighty slick, and he’ll play his cards fine.”
“If he ever gets on the committee,” said Singleton, “there is going to be trouble for this football-team. He is sore because he did not make the eleven, and he will raise thunder. Merriwell, it is for your interest to see that Chet Arlington is defeated in this scheme of his.”
Still Dick was silent. He was thinking of his promise to Mrs. Arlington not to interfere with the ambition of her son, a promise that had been made in the presence of June and the gathering of plebes about the carriage.
The keenly interested boys decided to go forth immediately and find out “what was doing.” They soon left the room, only Buckhart remaining with Dick. Merriwell sat on a chair, gazing at the floor, a strange look on his handsome face. The Texan walked over and dropped a hand on Dick’s shoulder.
“Pard.”
Dick looked up.
“Well, Brad?”
“This yere is no time to squat on your haunches. You want to get right up and hustle.”
“What for?”
“What for? Whoop! Great horn spoon! Didn’t you hear me say that Chet Arlington is laying pipes to get on the athletic committee in place of Warwick, who has resigned?”
“Yes.”
“Well, burn my hide and brand me deep! Are you going to squat and let that onery varmint get on?”
“I don’t think he will succeed.”
“Then you don’t know him as well as I thought you did.”
“He’s not a truly popular fellow.”
“Is Phil Warne?”
“No.”
“Warne is chairman of the committee. Is Olf Stone?”
“No.”
“Stone is on the committee. Is Had Burrows?”
“I don’t think so.”
“He’s on the committee, and he was chairman last year.”
“But it is different with Chester Arlington.”
“How?”
“He is a thoroughbred cad.”
“Sure thing; but you saw how he stood with his own class.”
“The plebes alone cannot elect him to the committee.”
“They won’t be alone.”
“He has no popularity outside his class.”
“But he’s got money, and he’ll use it.”
“I decline to believe,” said Dick, “that the fellows here at the academy can be bought.”
“Say, when congressmen and senators can be bought at Washington you don’t want to bet your pile that fellows here at school are much different.”
“Still I will not believe it,” said Dick. “I don’t care to take any part in this affair, Brad. I have enough to think of without dipping into this. If my friends oppose Arlington they may work against him but I am going to keep out of it.”
“That’s where he wins! Why, you can go out and defeat him in an hour! Just you go to work against him and you will carry things as you like. But if you sit down and don’t do a thing, the fellows will think you are indifferent, and he’ll carry them.”
Dick was strongly tempted to take a hand in the affair, but again he thought of his promise to Mrs. Arlington, and that held him in check.
“If Chet Arlington gets on that committee,” said the Texan, “he’ll have you in a step all the time. You hear me shout! He will work against you in every possible way, and he’ll have power to hurt you. Why, you know that fellow has tried his best to injure the team! Do you regard him as a fit man for the committee?”
“You know I do not regard him as fit,” came instantly from Dick.
“Then it’s your duty to get out and hustle to keep him off!” exclaimed Buckhart. “What keeps you from it?”
“My word,” said Dick, in a low tone. “I cannot break a promise.”
“Is that it? Well, if you made any promise that keeps you from doing your duty now you ought to be lynched! That’s good and plain, if I have to fight you for it! Why, maybe your promise will lead you to stop your friends from working against the dog?”
“No; I shall not interfere with my friends if they choose to try to defeat him.”
“I’m glad to hear it!” exclaimed Brad scornfully. “Then I’m going out and get into gear. I’ll work like a tiger, and it won’t be my fault if he gets there.”
Brad strode out, slamming the door and leaving Dick to his reflections, which were not entirely pleasant.
“It was a foolish promise!” he finally exclaimed. “I should not have made it, but I did not think at the time that it might put me in a situation like this. I was thinking she meant his honest ambitions, and I would be the last fellow in the world to try to crush a chap who had sincere ambition to get along. I wonder if that promise really binds me?”
But when he had thought upon it for some time he concluded that he was bound and could not exert his influence to defeat Chester Arlington in this matter without breaking his word.
No wonder Dick was displeased and troubled over the way things were going at the academy. He felt that the committee had made a big blunder in agreeing to take the U. A. A. eleven to fill the place of Rivermouth, and he could not help being nettled because he had not been consulted at all in the matter. He knew the Uniontown team would fight like a lot of tigers for the game, which they would be satisfied to win by foul means, if they could not by fair. In his heart he was satisfied that Fardale would have to put up a fiercer struggle to hold her own than she had against any team for the season thus far, and the fear that she might be defeated by trickery or treachery was far from agreeable. But to have Chester Arlington on the athletic committee – that was what troubled him more than anything else.
“He can’t get there!” Dick finally exclaimed. “It is not possible the boys here at the academy will permit it. I’m not going to worry about it any more.”
Then he picked up a book and began studying. However, try as he might to fasten his mind on the text, he caught himself wondering if there was a possibility that Arlington would succeed. Who would run against the fellow for the position? It was important that whoever did so should be a popular man. Would the right fellow go into the contest?
At last, Dick flung the book aside and sprang up.
“I’ve got to go out and learn what is being done!” he exclaimed, seizing his cap. “Oh, June Arlington, why did you ever have such a brother! If you were not his sister it would be different.”
