A great number of cadets, and some teachers, come up to shake Bart by the hand. Ritter and Baxter were conspicuous by their absence. Each of the bullies was chagrined at the poor showing he had made. Instead of gaining on the second ballot they had lost.
"That shows how much one can depend on his friends," growled Baxter to Mumps.
"Never mind, Dan, maybe you'll be elected a captain," answered the toady and sneak.
"I don't want to be a captain; I want to be a major or nothing," grumbled the bully.
A little later the balloting for a captain for Company A was started. There were half a dozen candidates, including both Ritter and Coulter, and Ritter did all he could to get the boys who had voted for Baxter to support him, and then bribed Coulter to step out in his favor. But Jack, Pepper and Bart Conners worked hard for Harry Blossom, as agreed, and as a consequence Harry was elected on the third ballot by fifty-two votes.
"Hurrah for Harry Blossom!" was the cry, and the newly-elected captain of Company A was congratulated on all sides.
This election was followed by that for a captain for Company B. Here the struggle was as fierce as before, but Dave Kearney won out on the sixth ballot. Then came ballots for the lieutenants, and Bob Grenwood came out strong with fifty-five votes. Dale Blackmore was made the new quartermaster, much to his delight, although Dale cared more for athletics than he did for military matters.
Not one of the Ritter or the Baxter crowd got an office, much to their disgust. Baxter went off by himself to sulk, but Ritter and Coulter denounced their rivals openly.
"I reckon votes were bought," said Ritter.
"Sure they were bought," responded Coulter.