"Have I?"
"I think you have, sir."
"I know I have not!"
Putnam was angry, and his face betrayed it.
"You must prove that, Gordon!"
"I can."
"Do so."
"I may not prove it to your satisfaction, but I can prove it just as hard. You have told me that I am in fine form, and I know that you have said I have as fine back and shoulders as may be found in the whole college."
"I did say that," calmly acknowledged Old Put.
"Well, that counts for something."
"But it does not make you suitable for the crew. There is something more needed, as you should know. You must be able to row."
"Is there a man on the crew who pulls a prettier stroke than I? Just answer me that, Burn Putnam?"
"You do pull a pretty stroke, but I have been convinced that the men on the crew now will hold out, and it is not best to take you in place of any of them."
"Who convinced you? I know! It was Merriwell! He is holding Rattleton on the crew simply because they are chums, and you are letting him twist you around his finger! Ha! ha! ha!"
Gordon"s laugh was sarcastic and cutting and it brought a hot flush to the face of Old Put.
"You are insolent, Gordon!" he said. "This is an open insult!"
"Is it? Well, I notice you do not deny that Merriwell has held Rattleton on the crew in my place."
"I deny that he has held any one on the crew that is not fully capable of remaining there on his own merit."
"That sounds first rate! Oh, well, I don"t care, anyway! Your crew is bound to make a show of itself, and it will be beaten hands down by the sophs."
"So that is the opinion you hold, is it?"
"It is."
"And I suppose you have held it all along?"
"I have."
"Then I have made no mistake in dropping you from the crew. You have quite satisfied me on that point, Gordon. No man is suitable to hold a place on any kind of a crew or team if he holds it in contempt and has no confidence in it. He will not work, and his feeling of contempt will communicate itself to others, thus demoralizing the whole lot of them.
Even if he kept his contempt to himself, he is not the man to work his heart out in the effort to win. He thinks it is no use to kill himself, and he will not make his best effort at any time. It is my policy to drop such a man, in case I find him out, and drop him hard. Yes, I am quite satisfied, Gordon."
Walter bit his tongue to keep back the fierce words which arose to his lips. He felt himself quivering with anger.
"All right! all right!" he said, his voice unsteady. "I am glad you are satisfied! But wait till the race is over. Rattleton"s glory will be gone then. Don"t think that he will pull his heart out. A man who smokes as much as he does can"t pull."
"Smokes! Rattleton does not smoke at all. I observed him at the turkey roast. He absolutely refused to smoke."
"Because you were present; but I know for a fact that he smokes behind your back, and he smokes almost constantly."
"I cannot believe it. Merriwell would tell me."
"Would he? Ha! ha! ha! You don"t know Frank Merriwell yet, but you will find him out. That fellow will go to any extreme to injure me, and so it is not likely he would tell anything on his chum that would cause you to give me his place."
"I am sure you do Merriwell an injustice. He is a man who does not smoke himself, and he would not allow his roommate to injure himself smoking.
However, I will find out about this."
"Do so; but I have found out about it already. I have certain means of obtaining information."
"So have the sophs, and they have obtained a great deal," Putnam shot at Walter as he turned away.
Putnam collared Merriwell at the first opportunity and demanded to know the truth about Rattleton"s smoking.
"I know you will tell me the truth, Merry," said Burnham, "and it is important that you should."
"Some one has been telling you he is smoking?"
"Yes."
"Well, he is not smoking now. I had a talk with him and he swore off. He is not touching tobacco in any form, and I give you my word on that."
"That"s all I want," said Putnam, quite satisfied.
After this the freshman crew took to practicing nights, and it was said that they worked as no crew of freshies every worked before. One night they ran up against the regular "Varsity crew, and gave it a hot pull, but finally seemed to be beaten.
The report of this brush spread abroad, and the men on the regular crew were rather complimentary toward the freshmen. They said the youngsters worked together in a most surprising way, and it was predicted that they would give their rivals a hard pull.
The sophs were inclined to regard this as a jolly, and they continued confident of winning over the freshmen with the greatest ease.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE TRAITOR DISCOVERED.
"I say, Merry," said Rattleton, the day before the race was to come off, "you can"t guess who Gordon is chumming with lately."
"I don"t know as I can. Who is it?"
"Ditson."