Spencer appreciated this, and the offer was accepted, so that afternoon found Merriwell on the river’s bank once more, shouting his commands to the Blue Cove crew.
That night Kent Spencer publicly declared that it was his conviction that the crew had improved more in one hour under Merriwell than during the entire time Harlow had coached it.
Anson Addison was the only one who was not enthusiastic. He remained silent and sulky, saying nothing, but thinking a great deal.
Addison was not well liked at Blue Cove, but he was something of an all-around athlete, and without doubt as good a man with an oar as could be found among the academy students. He was considered of great value to the academy crew.
Since his defeat in the attempt to bar the Yale Combine from the race, Addison had sulked and held himself aloof, refusing to speak to Frank and his friends, whom he pronounced “a lot of plebes, not fit associates for any gentleman.”
Addison’s friends had seen him sulky before, and Spencer advised them to let him alone, saying he would get over it after a while if he was not troubled.
CHAPTER XVII—THE EIGHT-OAR SHELL
After their work on the river, the boys enjoyed themselves lolling about in hammocks, playing tennis and strolling and talking with the pretty girls they found at the Cove.
The girls seemed to take readily to the newcomers, which added to Addison’s hostility, as a young lady on whom he had bestowed a great deal of attention was quickly appropriated by Bart Hodge.
It was a remarkable thing that, although Bart was a serious fellow, with a rather moody face, he was a great favorite with the girls. There was some sort of magnetism about him that attracted them.