Chapter 18

RICHARD WINS ANOTHER RACE, AND TUNBROOK IS MUTINOUS.

It was a proud moment for Richard Grant when he rose from the stern sheets of the Emma, and found the Alice was two or three lengths behind, and when he heard the shouts of his friends rend the air. It was victory--another triumph over the Regulators, who had threatened to make Tunbrook too hot to hold him. They did not get ahead very fast, and he felt that his conquest over them was complete.

The hour of prosperity, of triumph, is the most dangerous period in the experience of a young man. He is on the top of the wave, and he sees not the dark abyss that yawns on either side of him. Truly we need adversity to keep us from forgetting God and duty; to keep us from forgetting that truth and justice are more mighty than mere success.

But when Richard came to Tunbrook, he came with a solemn resolution to forsake the error of his ways, and find happiness in the path of rectitude. Whatever success had attended him, he attributed to the influence of this good resolution. He had manfully resisted temptation; he had cured himself of several bad habits, and he had made good progress in the conquest of himself. He had often felt an inclination to resent with hard words and heavy blows the sneers of the Nevers faction, but he had controlled himself; and each victory of principle over inclination had made him stronger in his purpose to do right.

Bertha's answer to his letter, in which he had informed her of his election to the post of sergeant, cautioned him against being too much elated by his good fortune. She hoped his promotion would not make him think too much of himself. When he realized that he had won a new victory, when he heard the boys shouting his name, the words of his sister came to his mind, and he determined to bear his honors meekly, and to feel kindly towards Nevers and his friends.

As they pulled to the stake boat, Richard cautioned his crew not to "crow" over the fellows in the other boat, for it was a friendly contest, and he did not wish to see any ill feeling on either side. The Alice was already alongside the sail boat. Nevers was in no enviable frame of mind; he looked dark and sour, and Richard only bestowed one glance upon him, lest his looks should be misconstrued.

"Grant, you have won the race," said Colonel Brockridge, as the Emma came up. "I had no idea of such a result."

"Three cheers for Grant!" shouted an enthusiastic boy in the sail boat.

"No," added the principal, as he glanced at the crest-fallen coxswain of the Alice, and saw that he was taking his defeat very hardly. "You have cheered enough. We don't want any unkind feelings to grow out of this affair. Nevers, you have been beaten, but----"

"I shouldn't have been, if I had had fair play," growled Nevers, whose anger was manifest in his tones.

"Has there been any foul play?" demanded the colonel.

"Yes, sir, there has," replied Nevers, sharply.

"What was it?"

"The fellows in the Emma took her out of the water, cleaned her, and covered her bottom with black lead."

"I don't see any unfair play in that. You had the right to use your time for preparation as you wished," said the principal.

"He couldn't have beaten if his boat hadn't been in better condition," added Nevers.

"It is a good driver that keeps his horse in good condition. I think it is rulable for each crew to prepare their boat as they think best."

"Well, he beat us by a trick. What did they go down the river for to haul up their boat?"

"That is their business. I see you are not satisfied, Nevers."

"No, sir, I am not. I like to have fair play in these things."

"So do I," said the colonel, with a quiet smile, "and I think you had better try this thing over again. Now, suppose you exchange boats, and pull round once more, that we may see how much good the black lead did. What do you say, Grant?"

"I am willing, sir," replied Richard.

"We are all fagged out, now, sir," interposed Nevers.

"I proposed this method to remove your objections to the race, Nevers. You might have cleaned your boat, if you had been so disposed."

"I didn't think of it," snarled Nevers.

"If a general should get beaten because he did not think to bring up his ammunition, or by neglecting any precaution, his want of forethought would hardly be deemed a sufficient excuse. I should like to have you exchange boats for a short pull, if you don't go round the island."

"We are tired out, sir."

"The other crew have pulled the same distance you have," added the principal.

"Try it, Nevers, try it," whispered Redman. "We shall be laughed at for a month, if we don't. We will whip them this time."

"I am willing to try it, sir," said Nevers, though his words belied his feelings.

Both crews were somewhat rested from the fatigue of the race, and they exchanged places in the two boats, taking the positions assigned to them.

"We shall get beat this time, sure," said Bailey.

"No, we won't," replied Richard.

"Well, if you say so, then we shall not. It would be the greatest thing that ever was, if we should whip them again. It will show that black lead isn't a great institution, after all."

"No, it won't. Those fellows don't pull worth a cent. If they can't do better than they did before, we shall whip them all to pieces. Now, mind what I told you; don't hurry, and keep cool."

The signal was given, and the two boats dashed off. The race was very nearly a repetition of the first one. Richard kept a sufficient quantity of muscle in reserve for the last half mile of the race, and came in about a boat length ahead of the Emma. The one and a half length's difference in the two races seemed precisely to indicate the amount of virtue in black lead.

Again the thundering cheers of the Grant party reverberated over the lake and through the grove. Nevers was astonished, as well as angry, and his face was darker than ever.

"Are you satisfied now, Nevers?" asked the colonel, when the Alice and the Emma came alongside the stake boat.

"Yes, sir," replied he, desperately; "but I don't understand it."

"I do," said the principal. "The other crew pull better than yours. I never saw better pulling in my life than those fellows showed us. I hope there is no hard feeling between you."

"No, sir," replied Nevers; but his looks and his tones belied his words.

"He will pull us all down at this rate," muttered Redman, as the Emma left the stake boat.

"Something must be done," added Nevers. "He has got half the fellows on his side now."

"What shall we do?" asked Redman, who seemed to regard it as a hopeless case.

"We'll fix him yet."

Some earnest conversation followed these remarks. It was carried on in whispers, and entirely suspended when the Alice approached. The boats were secured, and both crews landed.

"Grant, you have beaten me fairly, and there is my hand," said Nevers, when the two coxswains met on shore.

Richard was utterly confounded by this show of good will on the part of his rival. He took the proffered hand, and gave it a hearty pressure.

"Thank you, Nevers; it is very kind of you to treat me in this handsome manner. I'm sure I don't feel any ill will toward you," replied Richard.

"We will be friends, Grant, and perhaps you will tell me how this thing was done?"

"With the greatest pleasure."

"You have some secret in rowing."

"I will tell you all I know about it, any time you please," said Richard, frankly.

"Thank you; you are the first fellow that ever beat me rowing, and I honor you for it, but I don't understand it. Shall we be friends now, Grant?"

"With all my heart."

Richard could not have been more astonished if the sky had fallen, than he was when his great enemy approached him with words of kindness and conciliation. He could scarcely believe his senses; but there was Nevers by his side, as good-natured as though he had won the race; and more than this, the rival crews were suddenly on the most excellent terms, and were fraternizing like brothers. Nevers had evidently given up the point, and intended to withdraw all opposition to the advancement of Richard.

Nevers and his friends seemed to be sincere, and the hatchet appeared to have been actually buried. Richard was so well treated by them, that he came to the conclusion that the Regulators had been dissolved, or at least that they had turned their attention to some more promising field of labor.

On the first of November, when the boys assembled for morning prayers, the principal announced a new regulation, requiring every member of the Institute to be in-doors during the off time, from seven till nine in the evening. Before, they had been permitted to go where they pleased during these hours, as long as they did not leave the estate. But some of the boys had been seen in the village of Tunbrook after eight in the evening; and all efforts to discover who they were had been unavailing. The prohibition had been made to correct this evil.

When the new regulation was announced, there was a general murmur of disapprobation among the students, for some of their best sport had been enjoyed out of doors, after dark. No one ventured to remonstrate, but the order was exceedingly unpopular.

"I won't stand it," said one and another, during the first recreation hour in the afternoon. "It's too bad; it will spoil all our fun."

"The fellows are all agreed on this point," said Redman.

"I am willing to observe all reasonable regulations, but we might as well go into a monastery as submit to this thing," added Nevers. "What do you say, Grant?"

"I don't like it. We intended to have a first-rate game of foot ball these moonlight evenings."

"There isn't a fellow in the school that likes it," said Redman.

"That's so," replied Bailey. "I don't see the use of the rule either."

"Nor I."

"Some of the fellows have been down to Tunbrook almost every night."

"What's that to us, as long as we didn't go?" said Bailey. "The innocent ought not to be punished with the guilty."

"The colonel couldn't find out who they were," said Redman, with a kind of chuckle. "No fellow would 'blow' on the others."

"It is easy enough to talk," said Bailey, "but what are you going to do?"

"Do? Why, resist it, of course," replied Redman. "I am ready to do so, for one. Let us all stay out to-night till nine o'clock."

"Agreed," added some of the larger boys.

"We shall get punished if we do," suggested Bailey.

"No matter. They will have to punish the whole crowd. The guard house won't hold us all," replied Redman.

"Let us have a plan about it. We will get up a regular mutiny," said Nevers. "If we can get a hundred fellows to go with us, we shall make the old man cave in."

"Good, Nevers! Let all the fellows that will join meet under the big oak by the river, at five o'clock, or as soon as we get out of school. Let each fellow talk it round in a quiet way, but don't let the teachers hear a word."

"Will you be there, Grant?" asked Nevers.

"I don't know. I will see."

"Don't know?" said Nevers. "Don't you see all the fellows are in for it?"

"I will think of it," replied Richard, as he walked away.