"I know I haven't," returned Max, red to his ears. "I'd vote for him right now. Barry can't get the medal anyway.
"He doesn't stand well enough in Latin and physics for one thing," pursued Max. "He knows it. Barry's a good fellow, and the Old Doc. is proud of him, I reckon; but he never was a bone for work."
Pee Wee was inspired by this statement to "root" all the harder for Bobby Blake.
"He can get it, I know!" the fat boy kept saying. "There isn't another boy in the school stands as good a chance."
"But if Mr. Leith is bound not to vote for him, what chance is there for Bobby? Tell me that, now?" demanded Fred Martin.
"What's Old Leith got against him?" asked one of the other boys.
"Oh, it's that fight," said Pee Wee, with a side glance at Fred.
"You've said that before," Skeets Brody observed. "I don't know about any fight Bobby's been in since he came here."
"Oh, he wasn't in it," returned Pee Wee.
Fred's face colored deeply. He waited his chance and got the fat boy aside. "What's all this about Bobby fighting?" he demanded. "You know something more than you're telling."