The Bell Haven eight

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

II. Turning the Tables 24

III. Facing the Music 39

Chapter I

P INKY PALMER flitted about the grounds of the Bell Haven Academy, pausing every now and then to tack a sheet of paper on a convenient tree or fence 'post. It was dusk, and the boy moved around as though he was afraid of being detected. Bobby Benson, perched on a fence rail, just outside of the campus, did not recognize his chum at once. But something about the unknown seemed strangely familiar. The youngster scratched his head in perplexity. Presently the answer to the puzzle came to him like a flash.

‘^By jiminy!” he cried, ^^iPs Pinky; but what in blazes does he mean by wandering around like a ghost?^^

Benson jumped off the fence and started ( 11 )

in the direction of the dormitories. As he neared the entrance to the Academy the mysterious figure suddenly disappeared, but not before the cause of his skulking had been revealed. He had been posting typewritten notices. Bobby struck a match in order to examine one of them, and found that it was an unsigned call for a meeting of the boys to be held in the refectory on the following Thursday evening, for the purpose of organizing a boat club. Benson headed for his own room and, as he expected, foupd Palmer there, reclining on the couch in an attitude of studied indifference.

Hello!’’ he cried, how’s the amateur bill poster?”

Pinky flushed until his face was almost the color of his hair.

^^What — ^what do you mean?” he stammered.

“You know blamed well what I mean. Didn’t I catch you just now sneaking around like a thief in the night?”

“It’s a call to organize a boat club,” admitted Pinky.

“I read it/^ confessed Bobby, ^^but why all this secrecy, Bo? You couldn’t be arrested for wanting to form a boat club.” ! just crazy to get up a crew at Bell

Haven,” explained Pinky in a lowered voice, ^^but I was afraid if we talked about it too much that Doctor Maury might just take it into his wise old head to nip the scheme in the bud. You know he was mighty cross because five of the nine fellows on the championship baseball • team fell

down in their studies ”

Baseball didn’t do that,” interrupted Benson; “they’d have fallen down if they hadn’t been on the team.”

^H’m not going to argue that,” said the sagacious Pinky; “all I know is that I feared the doctor might put his foot on

the boat business ”

“And yet you’ve posted notices for a meeting?” cried the incredulous Bobby.

A cunning smile crossed the countenance of the aubum-haired one.

had to wait,” he said in a hushed voice, “until I was sure the doctor wasn’t here. I found out today that he had left town and wouldn^t return for a week. ‘So/ says I to myself, ‘now Pinky, me boy, this is the time to hold your meeting and form your club.’ I was posting the notices when you came along like Hawkshaw the detective, and nearly scared me stiff.”

Benson stared at his chum admiringly.

“You’re certainly a diplomat. Pinky,” he said.

“Go ahead,” chuckled the red-haired one, ^^go as far as you like. I’ve been called worse things than that.”

“But,” exclaimed Bobby, a new thought presenting itself, “what’s going to happen when the doctor returns?”

“Nothing,” was the triumphant retort, “it will be all over by that time — ^all except the shouting. The whole thing will be organized, and the doctor won’t have the heart to break it up. He’s human, take it from me. It’ll be hard to break it up. It’ll be like trying to unscramble an omelette — an awful job.”

Further conversation was stopped by the ringing of the supper bell. The two boys made a hasty toilet and hurried down to the long, narrow room known as the refectory.

It was Bobby’s second year at Bell Haven. The preceding year had been all that could be desired. He had progressed satisfactorily with his studies and — greatest of all to the boyish mind — ^he had been the captain of the Bell Haven ball team that won the Academic championship from the Burlingham Academy, j, Bobby had advanced during the year, not only in age and wisdom, but also in physical power. He had grown several inches taller, was broader across the shoulders and fuller in the chest and had become a stranger to fear. Almost unconsciously he had also acquired two valuable traits. One was persistence — ^the power to stick at a task or to cling to an idea until it had been brought to a successful conclusion. The other was self-control, a virtue that had enabled him to keep in check a violent temper.

Pinky Palmer, also, in the months at Bell Haven, had developed in many ways. He was still free and easy in his ways^ but he was less given to the horse-play which had kept the other boys in an uproar. The business-like manner in which Bobby Benson had whipped the Bell Haven nine into shape and the bull-dog tenacity with which he had worked to win the baseball championship had not been lost on the red-haired and freckle-faced one.

Pinky loved the water. He could swim with the ease and certainty of a duck, and aquatic sports appealed to him very strongly. He had often looked out on the broad surface of the Arlington River and bemoaned the fact that the Bell Haven Academy was without a boat club. There had been such a thing in the old days and a dilapidated boathouse stood near the water’s edge as a reminder of the glories that had gone. For more than a decade, now, it had been the haunt of rats and bats. How to save it from final and complete ruin had been the problem that filled many of his waking hours. He was shrewd enough to realize that it would take some strategy to organize a crew. The Academy already contained baseball, football and basketball teams, and these things, with swimming and skating, occupied most of the spare time of the pupils. It was Benson^s success with the ball team that had finally decided Pinky to make the plunge.

'^Hey, Pinky!’’ shouted John Forbes, the boy who rejoiced in the sobriquet of the Sleeping Beauty, ^Hhere’s a call out for a meeting to organize a boat club.”

Palmer, who was stuffing a wedge of pound cake in his mouth, was startled at this sudden and unexpected reference to his posters.

— ^know,” he stammered, coughing and choking as the crumbs went down the wrong way. read ’em just before

I came in tonight.”

^^It’s a bully idea,” called Forbes from across the table, ''an’ the only thing I don’t understan’ is why some one didn’t think of it long ago.”

Pinky, who had barely escaped strangulation from the overdose of cake, smiled approvingly. It was fine to have one’s ideas endorsed by others.

for it — strong,” he announced as one who had just reached a decision.

The Sleeping Beauty was engaged in a scuffle with the boy who sat next to him, so he failed to hear these words. After order had been partially restored he rose to his feet.

“IVe got an idea.” he proclaimed solemnly.

^^Lock the door,” shrieked a youngster near the foot of the table; ^Torbes has an idea and we don’t want it to get away.”

The rosy-cheeked one frowned in order to keep from laughter.

^^My idea,” he said, “is that after we form the boat club we make Pinky Palmer president and captain of the crew.”

A roar of approval greeted the suggestion and the next minute nearly all of the boys were on their feet cheering for one of the most popular boys in the school. As the cheers died out a broad-shouldered, darkcomplexioned youngster at one of the other tables called out in a drawling voice:

“You fellows better not count your ducks before they’re hatched. Get your club before you choose a captain.”

A storm of dissent greeted this remark, but Pinky checked it with a wave of his long right arm.

'^Greely’s perfectly right,” he declared.

Let’s do one thing at a time.' It’s great to hear your cheers, but I’m willing to step aside in favor of any good fellow in the school. The big thing is to form the club, and I hope you’ll all attend the meeting tomorrow night.”

So it came abovt that the meeting called for the purpose of forming the Bell Haven Boat Club was one of the largest gatherings ever held at the Academy. The thought of an annual boat race filled the boys with delight and even those who knew they would have no chance of getting on the crew were enthusiastic over the possibilities of the organization. Pinky Palmer called the boys to order and almost before he realized what was happening he had been elected president of the club and captain of the crew. He was flushed with pleasure over the honors thus thrust upon him and when he feebly suggested that ^ome others should be put in nomination in order to test the desire of the meeting they howled him down.

It was Bobby Benson, as secretary of the meeting, w^ho aroused the deep interest of the gathering.

have here,’’ he announced, ^'a letter from the Cleverly Boat Club challenging us to a crew race on the Arlington River on June of next year, the exact time and place to be fixed by committees from the two schools.”

^^What d’you know about that!” ejaculated the Sleeping Beauty, expressing the surprise of all the other boys.

^^We haven’t even got a boat club yet,” interjected Gordon Greely.

^^Oh, yes we have,” smilingly corrected Palmer from the chair. We’re fully organized now and ready for new business.”

‘^That may be true,” persisted Greely; ^^but the only thing we have to our name is a broken-down shack that we call a boat house. Why, we don’t possess a boat. I move that the communication be laid on the table. We can take it up some time in the future.’^

But Bobby Benson was clamoring for recognition. As soon as he had received it he called out in a loud voice:

amend the motion by moving that we accept the challenge of the Cleverly crew and that the chairman appoint a committee to make the necessary arrangements.’^

Cries of ^^Good!” “Good!” and shouts of laughter greeted this unexpected declaration. Greely was on his feet in an instant, his dark face flushed with anger.

“This looks like an attempt to make a laughing stock of Bell Haven,” he said, “ and if there’s any sense in this crowd it will be voted down. Benson knows, and everyone here knows, that we’re not in a position to accept challenges. The chances are that we won’t even be able to row this season.”

He had scarcely finished before Bobby Benson mounted a chair and began addressing his hearers in the fervid manner of a trained orator.

“Fellows!” he cried, “are you going to let it go out that we’re afraid to accept a challenge from that Cleverly crowd? What’s the use of saying we’re not prepared. The surest way of being prepared is to accept this challenge. We have nearly eight months to get ready for the race. If we can’t put that house in condition, get the necessary equipment and train a crew, then we’re not worthy of the traditions of the Bell Haven Academy.”

Cries of “Bully for Benson!” and “You’re all right!” greeted this declamation. Most of the boys were on their feet by this time and the greatest confusion prevailed. Bobby realized his advantage and was quick to follow it up.

“Boys,” he continued, “this is the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s by meeting emergencies that you prove whether you’ve got sporting blood in you or not. The way to succeed is to say that we must be ready before ^June and that we must^win^this race.”

“You’re talking nonsense,” screamed Greely. “You can’t fool the fellows with that hot air.”

^'Can^t retorted Bobby. ^Tut the question, Mr. President. I move that we accept this challenge.’’

Pinky Palmer banged the desk with his gavel.

'^All in favor of accepting the challenge of the Cleverly crew say ^Aye,’ ” he instructed.

A chorus of ''ayes” went up with a force that made the rafters of the old building tremble.

"All opposed say 'Nay.’ ”

"No,” shouted the solitary voice of Gordon Greely.

"The 'ayes’ have it,” decided Pinky, "and we have accepted the challenge of the Cleverly crew!”

Chapter II

I T was the morning after the meeting in the refectory, and Bobby was sunning himself in the school yard when the grinding of the wheels on the pebbly road leading to the main building at Bell Haven reminded him that Adam, the venerable janitor of the institution, had returned from the station in the famous Germantown wagon that had brought so many pupils to the Academy.

‘^Whoa there, Maud!’’ called the driver to his ancient steed. Don’t you try to cut up any capers with the old man.’’

The mare showed no inclination to be frisky, but on the contrary cast longing eyes in the direction of the stable. As the team halted Bobby noticed that a lone boy sat in solitary state in the vehicle. Adam went to the back of the wagon, and throwing open the door, cried out cheerily:

^‘Now, son, if youll get out and go up to that big buildin^ yonder an’ register you’ll be a full-fledged member of this here great institute of leamin’.”|

As he spoke a slimly built boy, carrying a yellow suitcase, stepped out of the conveyance. The newcomer paused for a moment, and looked about him in a startled manner.'^Bobby’s first impression of the youngster was that he was rather frail, and that he appeared to be timid. He had expressive gray eyes, a finely chiseled nose and a sensitive mouth. Benson instantly thought of the day that he had first arrived at Bell Haven. He remembered the feeling of loneliness that had overwhelmed him, and at the recollection his heart went out to the new boy. Without waiting for an invitation he went over to the other and putting out his hand with engaging frankness, said:

^^My name’s Benson, and I want to welcome you to Bell Haven!”

The tone and the manner acted like magic. The half startled look on the face of the newcomer disappeared at once and in its place came an expression of pleasure and delight.

Thank you/’ he replied. ''My name is Nelson James, and I’m a new boy.”

"I didn’t think you were a very old one,” retorted Bobby dryly. "After you have reported at the office I’ll be glad to show you to your room and make you acquainted with some of the other fellows.”

The gratitude that surged from the gray eyes of Nelson James more than repaid Bobby for his thoughtful greeting. Instinctively he felt himseK attracted to the newcomer. It did not require the test of time to satisfy him that he would find the new boy a congenial companion. Also he seemed to realize that James would need the protection of some one older and stronger than himself. He found his imagination picturing the events of the next few months, and he mentally declared that if any of the big fellows at the Academy attempted to bully the frail one, that person would have to reckon with Bobby Benson. It was an unusual state of mind for one who loved to be in the thick of any trouble that was going on, but its existence proved how much Bobby had grown in his first year at the Academy.

At supper that night Benson introduced James to a score of his classmates. One of these was Pinky Palmer. After the presentation was over Bobby called his chum aside.

“ Pinky, he said with unusual solemnity, want you to like this chap.’^

“Sure,’’ agreed the irrepressible one; “ I don’t have any trouble getting along with any of the fellows.”

“But I want you to care for him in a special way — ^the — ^the way you care for me.”

Palmer looked up with a glint of suspicion in his shrewd eyes. He rubbed his stubby nose until it became red from the effort.

“Say, Bobby,” he exclaimed finally, “you’re not going to get soft, are you?”

“Certainly not,” Benson hastened to declare, fearing he might incur the charge of unmanliness, “only you may notice that he’s not very strong, and I don’t want any of the big fellows to impose on him/’

“All right,” assented Pinky in a halfhearted way; “I guess nobody is likely to impose on him. But he’s got to take his medicine the same as you did.”

“No, he hasn’t,” retorted Bobby warmly* “and the fellow that tries any rough house on him will have to deal with me.”

“Gee, Benson!” cried the auburn-haired one, “I don’t like to hear you go on in that style.”

While they were talking Gordon Greely sauntered along.

“Hello, you fellows!” he cried, with an attempt at familiarity that was instantly resented by Pinky. “What’s all this whispering about?”

“Not about you,” retorted the pugnacious Palmer.

“So much the better for you,” was the irritating rejoinder. “It’s not safe to talk about me, even behind my back.”

Just what Pinky would have said or done to this impudent challenge cannot be told because Bobby Benson broke into the conversation at this point and abruptly changed the subject.

^^Greely/’ he said, suppose youVe met the new boy?’’

The broad-shouldered and dark-complexioned one paused to take a look at Nelson James, who was on the other side of the room.

^'That kid?” he answered, jerking his head in the direction of the newcomer. ‘^Sure, I’ve seen him — ^but I can’t say that I’m throwing any fits over him.”

He’ll improve on acquaintance,” remarked Bobby quietly.

^^That remains to be seen,” replied the offensively aggressive Greely. great

deal depends on how he takes his medicine tonight.”

Bobby’s face darkened. He glared at the other boy’s big nose as if he would like to give it a pull.

^^What do you mean?” he demanded.

Greely, who was often morose, was now in high good humor.

^^Hoity-toity,” he mimicked. ^'The master of the school wants to know what the naughty boys are going to do with the new pupil/^

^ Yes,” cried Bobby, whose ire was beginning to rise, I want to know, and I^d advise you to cut out the funny business.”

The change in Benson^s manner affected Greely. He became serious and a shade more aggressive.

^^You know very well what I mean. Young James is going to be initiated tonight just the same as the other fellows in the school. You had to go through the mill and so did I and so did Palmer.”

‘^That’s all right,” agreed Bobby, partly mollified, ^^but I want you to avoid the rough house play.”

^^What, for instance?”

^^Well, the blanket tossing. James canT stand it, and if he^s hurt it will only get the other boys in trouble.”

^'So he says he canT stand it, does he?” sneered Greely.

^^He doesn’t say anything of the kind,” cried Bobby, say it.”

^^Oh,” drawled the irritating one, ^Hhat’s a different matter.”

Maybe it is” concurred Benson with a note of anxiety in his tone, '^but you^re not going to toss him, are you?’’

' ^ That , ” replied the broad-shouldered one, drawing himself up pompously, ^'will be decided on at the proper time.”

“It’s going to be decided right here and now!” exclaimed Bobby with that curling of the left side of the mouth which marked his passionate moments. “He won’t be tossed in the blankets, and the man that attempts it will regret it.”

Greely’s swarthy face became a little darker and a little uglier than usual.

“You flap you’re wings like a little bantam,” he retorted, “but it don’t go with me.”

“Are you going to give the boy a fair deal?” persisted Benson.

. “Wait and see,” was the unsatisfactory reply, and turning on his heel Gordon Greely walked away.

Pinky Palmer, who had listened to this conversation in silence, gazed at Bobby in bewilderment. He ran his hands through his bright red curly hair and then grinned — a perplexed, puzzled grin.

^'Say something, cried Benson finally.

Didn’t I talk to him all right?”

^^Sure,” assented the tall, thin, wiry fellow. ^^You needn’t be afraid of Nosey Greely. But what I can’t understand is your sudden interest in the kid. Honest,; you’d think he was a girl and you were in^ love with him.”

“I like him — ^that’s all,” said Bobby, his face flushing.

^^But you only met him today.”

know that, but the minute I laid, my eyes on him I knew I could get chummy with him. It was a kind of instinct. You mix with some fellows aU your life and then can’t tell whether you like ’em or not. I can’t explain why. I only know it’s a fact.”

s’pose it’s all right,” said honest Pinky, suppressing a sigh, ^^but I can’t see for the life of me why he shouldn’t get the third degree the same as you did.”

^^He can and will,” replied Benson impatiently, ^^but I don’t want him tossed in the blanket. You’ll agree to that, won’t you?”

^'I’ll agree to anything you want,” conceded Palmer, putting his hand affectionately on his friend’s shoulder. We’re not ’going to scrap over a new boy — or forty of ’em.”

Bobby was smiling his appreciation of this compliment when Nelson James joined them.

Well, young one,” said Pinky patronizingly, ^'did you know they were going to give you a reception tonight?”

“Yes,” replied James with a faint smile, “I’ve been instructed to be here at eleven o’clock.”

“Do you know what it means?” hinted Palmer darkly.

The new boy nodded.

“I suppose I’m to be hazed. I hoped I wouldn’t be, but if it must be, I’m ready for it.”

“Good boy,” cried Pinky with involuntary admiration, and giving the frail one a slap on the back, “that’s the way to talk.”

'^Sometimes they^re a bit rough,” suggested Benson. don^t suppose you mind that?”

James shrugged his shoulders and there was a slight quiver about the sides of his sensitive mouth. He looked up appealingly.

“I guess I can be honest with you and Palmer,” he confessed. ^Ht was one of the things I was afraid of when I came here, but — ^but I’m going to grit my teeth and bear it.”

That reply won the impulsive Palmer. For the first time he began to share Benson’s admiration of the new boy.

Promptly at eleven o’clock that night Nelson James was escorted into the long, narrow room which was filled with masked boys. Gordon Greely sat in state in a great armchair and directed the proceedings. For more than half an hour the newcomer was subjected to all sort of silly tests. He was compelled to spell his name backward, to crawl on his hands and knees, to walk a chalk line and to put his neck on a block while a supposed executioner pretended to cut his head off. Bobby was present, with the others, wearing a mask and he viewed each succeeding bit of burlesque with badly concealed impatience. He had not liked it when he was ^^put through the mill,’’ as the boys called it, and he thought less of it now. But he did not want to be accused of priggishness and if his classmates were discovered and punished he was willing to share the odium. He was thinking of this when he heard the voice of Greely calling out:

^^Now let the burden bearers get the big blanket for the final test.”

Instantly Benson threw off his mask and advanced to the center of the room.

“I think there’s a mistake,” he cried in a challenging tone. James’ initiation is over.”

A hush went over the assemblage. The victim, who had edged close to Bobby, whispered :

^Ht’s all right, Benson, I’m willing to go ahead, I don’t want you to get into a fight for me.”

Bobby pushed him aside without any ceremony, and glared defiance at Greely.

That person pretended to ignore him and repeated his order.

Bring forth the big blanket!’^

Four of the boys withdrew and returned in a minute carrying a great horse blanket. They opened it and a dozen others caught the ends in their hands.

^^DonT any of you dare to touch James/^ thundered the now infuriated Benson.

No one offered to toss the victim into the blanket. Pinky Palmer, who had slipped quietly behind Bobby, whispered :

don^t know your game, but I’m with you to the finish.”

. Gordon Greely, his face dark with rage, advanced down the room in the direction of Nelson James, who stood pale and trembling. Bobby dexterously threw himself between them. At that moment one of the boys cried out in an injured tone:

What’s the use of spoiling the sport? We’ve got to toss some one.”

You’U have some one,” cheerfully replied Benson.

^AVho is it.”

Greely!” retorted Bobby.

The swarthy-faced one raised his arm to strike, but Benson deftly pushed it aside and planted a body blow square in the chest of his adversary. Before he could recover, the champion of frail boys had put out his right foot and Gordon Greely fell to the floor with a crash that startled the spectators.

^^Now, boys!^^ panted Bobby, ^^get ready,” and before anyone fully realized what he was doing, he had stooped down and by a herculean effort picked up the heavy Greely and tossed him into the waiting blanket. At the same moment he grabbed a comer of the woolen sheet.

^^All together, let her go,” he shrieked.

The others bent to their task with a will and the discomfited Greely shot up in the air with a bounce. This was repeated with shouts of laughter and approval, and the third time the involuntary victim struck the ceiling with a thud. Again and again he was shot up and down imtil the boys were exhausted from their labors. Finally Bobby gave the command.

“Drop him!”

They obeyed and Greely fell to the floor, bruised and sore, and almost unconscious. Benson did not wait, but nodded to Palmer and James and the three of them left the hall together. The new boy was startled at the unexpected conclusion of the initiation, but Pinky glanced at his friend with admiration beaming from his wide-open eyes.

^^What do you call it, Bobby?^’ he asked.

^^That,^^ said Benson grimly, “is a new game that IVe invented. It^s called 'Turning the Tables.^ ”

Chapter III

F or days after the adventure in the refectory the Bell Haven boys were . in constant expectation of a personal conflict between Gordon Greely and Bobby Benson. Gordon was by no means popular, but he was nearly the tallest chap at the Academy, and the younger ones had a wholesome fear of his broad shoulders and welldeveloped muscles. The indignity that had been put upon him was more than the mildest mannered boy could be expected to stand, and the swarthy-complexioned one had a temper that was difficult to control.

But, curious to say, nothing happened. Bobby shared the general feeling that Greely would try to ‘‘get even’^ with him, and that made him more watchful than usual. He was prepared to fight, if necessary, but he had no desire to do so if it could be avoided. For the first twenty-four hours the offensively aggressive one smarted under his humiliation, and every time he came in the vicinity of Benson his fists seemed nervously eager for the fray. He did not take the bouncing in the blanket to heart. That part of the punishment was part of school life. But he did resent the way in which his importance had been belittled before a roomful of boys. By the end of the second day the fire of his revengeful desire had burned very low, and before the week ended it was merely ashes.

Bobby had, somehow, understood the struggle that was going on in Greely^s heart, and he sympathized with him. He did not regret what he had done, and yet he would not have blamed the other boy in the least if he had jumped on him in the yard and pummeled him to his hearths content. But Greely had evidently conquered his passion by this time and even shown a shy desire to be friendly. Bobby observed this and determined to meet him half way. •

^^Say, Gordon,’’ he remarked one morning, “did you ever row a boat?”

Certainly/’ replied the broad-shouldered one suspiciously. ^^Why do you ask that question?”

“Nothing,” was the boyish response, “’cept that I thought if we got the boat club organized that we’d like fellows of your kind on the crew.”

“Do you really mean that if you were the captain that you’d take me?” asked the still skeptical Greely.

“Sure, you’re just the sort to make a good oarsman.”

Greely was silent for many moments. When he spoke, finally, it was in a halting, embarrassed manner.

“I’m sorry, Bobby, that I’ve been thinking wrong about you — ^I thought you didn’t like me.”

Benson laughed. He gave the big fellow a vigorous slap on his broad back.

“I haven’t a thing against any boy in the school. I’ve had one or two rackets with you, but it’s not because I don’t like you. It’s because I don’t like some of the things you do. Now if youVe reformed I'm ready to take you to my arms,”