Captain of the Crew

by Ralph Henry Barbour

“Not on that subject, so shut up!”

The varsity and second crews had been picked and sent to training-table on the Monday following the visit to Taylor. The varsity went to “Mother” Burke’s, in the village, and the second had a nice, long table all to themselves in dining-hall. Dick’s chair at the head of the board was vacant as yet, by request of Kirk, who explained that if Dick was to keep his mind off rowing affairs the varsity training-table was no place for him. But that was a long week to Dick, and he yearned for Saturday to come, even though, as he acknowledged, the enforced leisure had already benefited him. His color was better, his appetite was coming back, and he slept a good nine hours every night. But nevertheless the inactivity was hard to bear, and he thought that never before had the days lagged so.

The captaincy was still his, for Taylor’s accident had afforded him a respite. The boy’s knee was in bad shape, Dick learned, and it would be all of a month before he could be fit to take his place in the boat, although it had been agreed between him and Kirk that he should report with the other members of the crew at practice as soon as he was able to get about; he could at least watch the others at work and keep up with the march of events. He had sent a note to Dick the day following his fall.

“Friend Hope,” he wrote, “I guess you had best let that matter wait until I’m out-of-doors again. This is beastly luck, but we must make the best of it. Of course you understand that I shall hold you to your promise, so perhaps you had better work around toward you know what; kind of pave the way, you know. Send me an answer by Waters or Hayden.”

And Dick had answered “All right.”

The evil day was simply postponed, but meanwhile he would go ahead and do what he could. Taylor’s agreement had already borne fruit in the shape of the acquisition to the varsity and second boats of Waters and two other oarsmen, all three seniors and experienced men. This had puzzled Kirk not a little, but he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and so said nothing; merely set the new candidates to work and thanked his stars.

When Saturday came, and Dick’s period of voluntary probation came to an end, rowing affairs at Hillton looked far more promising. Waters was back at five in the varsity boat, and another of Taylor’s disciples, Whitman, had displaced the unfortunate Arnold at Number 2. Crocker went back to his place at six, and Dick once more found himself with his toes in the straps and the stroke oar in his hands, and was greatly comforted. He rowed in his old form that afternoon, and the rest of the crew seemed to gather confidence and tone from him. The new material, despite their lack of training during the first of the season, fitted well into their places, and the afternoon’s practice was, on the whole, decidedly encouraging.

The next morning Dick took his place at the head of the varsity training-table and ate his steak and baked potatoes and eggs with all the relish in the world, and would have been entirely happy had it not been for the knowledge that soon, another week at the most, he must yield his position. It was hard to have performed the difficult part, to have worked and planned ever since the preceding spring, to have worried through discouragements and toiled through the grinding monotony of the preliminary season, only to have to yield the honor to another when things had at length begun to look hopeful. Well, it might mean success in the race; and success was what he desired; only—well, he groaned when he pictured to himself the Crimson crew sweeping over the line ahead of St. Eustace, and realized that not he, but Roy Taylor, would come in for the glory that belonged to a victorious crew captain.

The next evening, Monday, Trevor brought up a copy of The Hilltonian for May, and Dick read aloud the article on the crew. After a summary of rowing at Hillton in former years, the article continued: “With fewer candidates to work with than in any year within memory, and with a lamentable lack of encouragement from the student body, Coach Kirk and Captain Hope have succeeded in forming a varsity and a second crew that compare favorably with any of recent years, and that are superior in most particulars to the eights of last spring. The return to the varsity squad of Taylor, S., and Whitman, S., is cause for congratulations, as both are excellent oarsmen and have had experience, Taylor in last year’s varsity boat, and Whitman in last year’s second. The varsity crew as at present made up is as follows: Captain Hope, Stroke; Jones, No. 7; Crocker, No. 6; Waters, No. 5; Nesbitt, No. 4; Milton, No. 3; Whitman, No. 2; Shield, Bow. Taylor will displace Jones at No. 7, it is expected, when he returns to work, which will probably be within the next fortnight.