"First I want to ask if all you fellows are ready to stand by Bob,out of the club as well as in,for it won't do much good to be kind to him here and cut him at school and in the street,"said Ed,heartily in earnest about the matter.
"I will!"cried Jack,ready to follow where his beloved friend led,and the others nodded,unwilling to be outdone by the youngest member.
"Good!With all of us to lend a hand,we can do a great deal;and I tell you,boys,it is time,if we want to keep poor Bob straight.We all turn our backs on him,so he loafs round the tavern,and goes with fellows we don't care to know.But he isn't bad yet,and we can keep him up,I'm sure,if we just try.I hope to get him into the Lodge,and that will be half the battle,won't it,Frank?"added Ed,sure that this suggestion would have weight with the honorable Chairman.
"Bring him along;I'm with you!"answered Frank,making up his mind at once,for he had joined the Temperance Lodge four years ago,and already six boys had followed his example.
"He is learning to smoke,but we'll make him drop it before it leads to worse.You can help him there,Admiral,if you only will,"added Ed,giving a grateful look at one friend,and turning to the other.
"I'm your man";and Gus looked as if he knew what he promised,for he had given up smoking to oblige his father,and kept his word like a hero.
"You other fellows can do a good deal by just being kind and not twitting him with old scrapes,and I'll do anything I can for you all to pay for this";and Ed sat down with a beaming smile,feeling that his cause was won.
The vote was taken,and all hands went up,for even surly Joe gave in;so Bob and Tom were duly elected,and proved their gratitude for the honor done them by becoming worthy members of the club.
It was only boys'play now,but the kind heart and pure instincts of one lad showed the others how to lend a helping hand to a comrade in danger,and win him away from temptation to the safer pastimes of their more guarded lives.
Well pleased with themselves--for every genuine act or word,no matter how trifling it seems,leaves a sweet and strengthening influence behind--the members settled down to the debate,which was never very long,and often only an excuse for fun of all sorts.
"Ralph,Gus,and Ed are for,and Brickbat,Grif,and Chick against,I suppose?"said Frank,surveying his company like a general preparing for battle.
"No,sir!I believe in co-everything!"cried Chick,a mild youth,who loyally escorted a chosen damsel home from school every day.
A laugh greeted this bold declaration,and Chick sat down,red but firm.
"I'll speak for two since the Chairman can't,and Jack won't go against those who pet him most to death,"said Joe,who,not being a favorite with the girls,considered them a nuisance and lost no opportunity of telling them so.
Fire away,then,since you are up;commanded Frank.
"Well,"began Joe,feeling too late how much he had undertaken,"I don't know a great deal about it,and I don't care,but I do not believe in having girls at college.They'd on't belong there,nobody wants 'em,and they'd better be at home darning their stockings.""Yours,too,"put in Ralph,who had heard that argument so often he was tired of it.
"Of course;that's what girls are for.I don't mind 'em at school,but I'd just as soon they had a room to themselves.We should get on better.""You would if Mabel wasn't in your class and always ahead of you,"observed Ed,whose friend was a fine scholar,and he very proud of the fact.
"Look here,if you fellows keep interrupting,I won't sit down for half an hour,"said Joe,well knowing that eloquence was not his gift,but bound to have his say out.
Deep silence reigned,for that threat quelled the most impatient member,and Joe prosed on,using all the arguments he had ever heard,and paying off several old scores by siy hits of a personal nature,as older orators often do.
"It is clear to my mind that boys would get on better without any girls fooling round.As for their being as smart as we are,it is all nonsense,for some of 'em cry over their lessons every day,or go home with headaches,or get mad and scold all recess,because something 'isn't fair.'No,sir;girls ain't meant to know much,and they can't.Wise folks say so and I believe 'em.Haven't got any sisters myself,and I don't want any,for they'd on't seem to amount to much,according to those who do have 'em."Groans from Gus and Ed greeted the closing remarks of the ungallant Joe,who sat down,feeling that he had made somebody squirm.Up jumped Grif,the delight of whose life was practical jokes,which amiable weakness made him the terror of the girls,though they had no other fault to find with the merry lad.
"Mr.Chairman,the ground I take is this:girls have not the strength to go to college with us.They couldn't row a race,go on a lark,or take care of themselves,as we do.They are all well enough at home,and I like them at parties,but for real fun and go I wouldn't give a cent for them,"began Grif,whose views of a collegiate life were confined to the enjoyments rather than the studies of that festive period."I have tried them,and they can't stand anything.