CHAPTER IV
SCHOOL ELECTIONS
"Just a minute, fellows!" called Bunny, as the other Scouts straggledtoward the door of the clubhouse, after Horace Hibbs had gone. "I wantto tell you something. This morning I spoke to Professor Leland abouthaving a meeting of the whole school, to get ourselves organized and toelect officers. The school, you see, is a good deal like a troop of BoyScouts; there must be a leader over everybody, and each branch, likeeach patrol, must have its leader, too. I mean that a student presidentis to be elected, and a football manager, and somebody to head theathletic association, and--and I don't know what else."
"When will the meeting be?" asked Nap.
"Professor Leland says it will be held late this afternoon, just beforeour first football practice. Now, the school may feel like electingsome of us to offices--"
"Of course," agreed Specs complacently. "Will there be enough officesfor all of us, Bunny?"
"That's just what I wanted to talk about," the patrol leader answeredsoberly. "We're organized, of course, and we're known by most of thestudents, and I think we're pretty well liked. If two or three ofus are elected, that will be fine. But we mustn't use our--our powerto run things. We mustn't try for all the offices. There are lots ofother bully fellows in school, and we want the best man elected to eachoffice, whether he's a Black Eagle or not."
"H'm!" said Specs gloomily. "That won't be the way Buck Claxton and hisgang will look at it. They'll be out to gobble everything they can get.I'll bet they have it all figured out already."
But at a quarter of four that afternoon, when Professor Lelandannounced to the school that the remaining fifteen minutes of theperiod would be devoted to a mass meeting of all the pupils, it wasevident that "Buck and his gang" had heard nothing of the plan. As amatter of fact, Buck looked uneasily at Peter Barrett, the farmer boy,and at Royal Sheffield, who came to school in an eight-cylinder motorcar, as if he were wondering whether they were at the bottom of thismove. Marion Genevieve Chester and Clarence Prissier also appeared ata loss. Rodman Cree, who seemed to have forgotten how to smile, showedneither surprise nor any other emotion.
"This afternoon," Professor Leland began, "we have our first footballpractice. It is customary, of course, for the squad to elect its owncaptain, but the school should vote on the team's manager. Moreover,we shall need somebody to act permanently as president of the athleticassociation, whose duty it will be to look after all athleticactivities. One boy has spoken to me about a literary and debatingsociety. Now would be an excellent time for its organization. And,lastly, although it will be better to have a temporary chairman ofthis meeting, we need a president of the student body to handle futureelections. Nominations are now in order for temporary chairman."
"I am going to nominate you, Bunny," Nap whispered excitedly fromacross the aisle.
Bunny shook his head. "Please don't. They will think we are trying torun the school."
"I nominate Peter Barrett," flashed Buck.
This was too much for Specs. "I nominate Bi--I mean, Charlie Jones," hecountered.
"Move that the nominations be closed." It was Buck again.
"All those in favor of Mr. Barrett say 'Aye,'" announced ProfessorLeland, when it had been decided to accept no more names.
The room shook with the thunder of the answer.
"All those in favor of Mr. Jones will signify in the same manner."
The response was hearty, but hardly a third as loud as the first.
"Mr. Barrett has been elected temporary chairman of this meeting,"decided Professor Leland. "He will take the chair at once."
Amid a good deal of hand-clapping, Peter Barrett climbed to the rostrumand pounded on the principal's desk with a ruler. His face was red andhis patched clothes very conspicuous, but he spoke calmly and slowly.
"Nominations for manager of the football team," he invited.
A little movement a few seats away caught Bunny's eye. After writingsomething on a slip of paper, Royal Sheffield passed it down the aisle.
"Mr. Chairman."
"Mr. Claxton."
"I nominate Roy Sheffield." Quite as if it had been arrangedbeforehand, the mention of the name was greeted with a volley ofapplause.
Bunny moved uneasily in his seat before rising to be recognized. Insome inexplicable manner, he sensed that some plot he could not fathomwas under way, and that it was a move against the Black Eagle Patrol.Perhaps he could swing the school with a neat speech of nomination.
"Mr. Chairman, I want to propose the name of a boy who has the abilityto handle this job as well as anybody in school. In the first place,he has brains; in the second place, he can give his whole attention tohis job, as I think he is too light to play on the team; in the thirdplace, he has had plenty of experience, because he's managed a scrubteam that we Boy Scouts have had for the last two years. He arrangedgames for us, and he fixed the business end so well that at the end oflast season we had our football suits paid for and a little left over.And you'll admit that's pretty good for a team of kids. I don't supposeit's necessary to say for him, any more than it is for anybody else inthis school, that he's absolutely honest. I nominate Emerson ElliotMeeker."
"For the love of Marengo!" gasped Nap Meeker, who had grown very red.
A boy named Leeton was nominated by a little clique at the back of theroom. After a long pause, during which nobody seemed to have anythingto offer, the nominations were closed.
"Count the ballots," ordered Peter Barrett to the volunteer ushers whohad collected the slips of paper from the pupils. It took nearly fiveminutes to total the various choices.
"The vote for manager," announced the chairman, "has resulted asfollows: Meeker, 10; Leeton, 17; Sheffield, 80. Mr. Sheffield has beenelected manager of the football team."
Puzzled and hurt, Bunny Payton crushed in his hand the note that Specshad just slipped over his right shoulder. What was the matter? Why hadNap been so badly beaten? Why? Opening his hand, he smoothed out thenote and read in Specs' angular handwriting:
Bunny:
You will have to admit that we are not the only wideawake bunch in school. I have just seen Molly Sefton, and she says that all yesterday afternoon Buck and his gang were going around telling everybody that we Scouts had said we were going to boss this school. I don't know who is at the bottom of it; maybe _Rodman the Athlete_. (Specs had underlined these three words.) Anyhow, there are a lot of people just waiting for a chance to vote against a Boy Scout, whether he is any good or not.
--Specs.
Bunny set his teeth. He hoped Specs was mistaken. But if it should turnout to be true--
Professor Leland had left the room when Peter Barrett, rapping smartlyon the desk, called for the election of a president of the athleticassociation.
A fellow named Bob Kiproy nominated Buck Claxton.
Specs hopped to his feet, plainly excited. "I nominate--"
"Move the nominations be closed," interrupted Sheffield.
While Specs struggled against the current, wildly protesting, themotion was carried with a roar, and a moment later Buck Claxton wasdeclared unanimously elected president of the athletic association.
Nothing daunted, Specs did his best to nominate S. S. for thepresidency of the literary society, but again the school overwhelmedhim, carrying into office Clarence Prissier on the crest of the tidalwave.
But one more place remained to be filled. However much the oppositionhad made up its mind to bar all Scouts from office, it was clear thatSpecs had grown desperate. Before the chairman had finished asking forsomebody to head the student association, Specs was on his feet, wavinghis right arm and shouting wildly, "Mr. Chairman!"
"Mr. Cree."
Peter Barrett was looking directly over Specs' head toward RodmanCree, who stood, feet apart, in the aisle. The Scout construed thisrecognition as another unjust fling at the patrol, although, as amatter of fact, Rodman had risen an instant before Specs.
"Mr. Chairman!" the latter repeated.
/> "Mr. Cree has the floor," declared Peter Barrett.
"I--I nominate--" Specs began lamely.
The chairman rapped again on his desk. "We are hearing from Mr. Cree.Go on, Mr. Cree."
Now, Bunny, for one, was in no sense adverse to hearing Rodman'snomination. He liked the new boy, and he was sure the new boy likedhim, to say nothing of the others in the Black Eagle Patrol. Althoughhe might have scoffed openly at the idea, deep in his heart he wasconfident that Rodman was about to show his true colors and nominateone of the Scouts; not just any one of them, but their leader, Bunnyhimself.
As Specs floundered back to his seat, Rodman Cree began. "I don't wantto nominate any fellow for this office," he said. "I just want to makea suggestion. It's this: There are about forty boys in this school andover sixty girls; and I think this last office should go to a girl."He sat down to a gathering applause that began with a few fainthand-spats and ended in a tumult of cheering. The speech was like adouche of cold water to Bunny.
"I nominate Marion Genevieve Chester!" shouted Buck through the noise.
Immediately, as before, the nominations were closed, and Mariondeclared elected. Then, just as the minute hand of the clock touchedfour, Peter Barrett declared the meeting adjourned.