Now that Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell had left Colby Hall for good, Henry Stowell had established himself as a satellite of Werner, doing all the mean little jobs the big cadet desired.
“Of course you’ll be elected,” declared Codfish to the lieutenant, when the talk over the coming election was rife. “The place belongs to you.”
“Sure it does,” answered Gabe Werner readily. “But I suppose I’ve got to work like the rest of the candidates if I want it,” he added, heaving a deep sigh. Werner was lazy by nature, and he did not like the idea of electioneering, any more than he did the idea of studying.
“I’ll tell you what you ought to do, Gabe,” said Bill Glutts. “You ought to give the boys a spread, or treat them to an entertainment in town. That would nail the captaincy for you.”
This idea pleased Werner, and, as a result, that night he invited all the cadets he dared to approach to the moving-picture theater at Haven Point. A crowd of about thirty accepted this invitation, and they not only went to the show, but later on dined at one of the restaurants at Gabe’s expense.
“That sort of thing makes me tired,” declared Spouter, when he heard of this. “Why, the poor fish is trying to buy votes!”
At first Dan Soppinger had said that he did not care to run for the captaincy, but a number of his friends insisted that he allow his name to be put up, and finally he consented. Others went to Walt Baxter and told him that he must run, too.
“You’ve simply got to do it, Baxter,” said Ned Lowe. “If you don’t, some of the fellows who might vote for you will go over to Werner, and he’ll have a walkover from the start.”
“All right then, if you want me to stand I’ll do it,” said Walt. “Just the same, I think Jack Rover ought to have it, and I’m going to vote for him.”
The voting was to be held on the following Saturday, and on Monday morning the cadets were to leave Colby Hall for Camp Barlight. Consequently between getting ready to vote and preparing for the encampment, all of the students were unusually busy.