“How?” Sam shot the query at Zorn.
Zorn’s answer was prompt enough; plainly, he had his ideas clearly formulated.
“The way to get a thing is to make up your mind just what you want and then go for it. Now, I want to be boss of the class and of the school next year—I don’t make any bones about it—to you.”
Sam smiled, a little grimly. “Go on,” he said.
“To be boss, I’ve got to have backing. I need yours—and by yours I mean your whole club’s.”
“Backing for what?”
“Well, to begin with, there’s the meeting to form a County Inter-School Athletic Association. One Junior will be on our school’s committee. I’m after that job, and I want a practically unanimous election by the class. I can have it, if your crowd will swing into line. Then, there’s talk of a school athletic council next year. If I land one, I can land the other, too. Then there’s the Valley Debating League. It hasn’t amounted to much lately, but I can get hold of it, and build it up. And there are some other things—never mind them now, though; they’ll naturally follow the others.”
Sam stared at Zorn; there was more than a trace of amazement in his expression.
“Whew! but you’re scheming to be a regular Pooh-Bah! You want to be the whole thing!”
Zorn nodded coolly. “That’s the ticket, Parker. No use pretending anything else. But there isn’t a thing I’ve mentioned that I can’t have, if your club will play my game. I take off my hat to you for the way you hold your bunch together. What’s more, I know perfectly well that you’ve got a lot of influence in the class—and I want that influence. You’re kind of down and out now, but, as I’ve told you, I can put the lot of you back on your feet. That’s worth something, isn’t it?”