The Crimson Banner — Reading Notes

ter, so I came down to try her on the water. She will be all right with a little paint. Give me a hand here and help me get her out.”

Tony paddled along toward the boat house, while I accompanied him, pushing my way through the bushes that grew thickly by the water’s edge.

When we had reached the dock I helped him drag out the canoe and carry it into the boat house.

As he made it fast to the wall, Tony remarked,

“There will be something besides baseball to interest the boys tonight. I have a letter to read.”

“Read it and see,” said Tony, taking a letter from his pocket and handing it to me.

I opened it, and, standing in the light of the single oil lamp fastened against the wall, I read as follows:

_To the Students of Belmont College_:

On a number of occasions during late years your attention has been called to the claims of Park College to the cannons which stand upon your campus. Enough evidence has been produced to convince an unprejudiced mind of our right of ownership of said cannons, but this evidence has in every case been rejected by you. We, the students of Park College, have at length decided to take a positive stand in the matter, and, accordingly, submit to you this formal demand for the surrender of the cannons to us. Should this be disregarded, we shall take more active steps to secure our rights. We trust this will secure your immediate attention, and await the favor of your reply.

I looked up in amazement. Tony winked.

“How is that for a game of bluff?” he asked.

“What in the world do they mean by ‘active steps’?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Legal proceedings would be simply absurd. My idea is that they think because their college is a trifle larger than ours that they can bully us. They have always wanted the cannons, you know.”

“Yes, but I thought they had given up all claims several years ago when the subject was thoroughly discussed in the college papers. You remember, they claimed that the cannons were in their country, two miles from Berkeley, and so belonged to them. But it was decided then that they belonged to nobody, and as our students had found them, they were ours by right of treasure trove as well as forty years’ possession.”

“Yes, but you know how it is in college: a new batch of students comes in and revives old sores. Now they are at it again, and now it is _our_ business to meet them as it was our predecessor’s.”

“Well, we will, and with a vengeance, too, if necessary. Did you show the letter to Edwards?”

Edwards was the managing editor of the college paper, the _Belmont Chronicle_.

“No; I received it only two hours ago in the late afternoon mail. Come up to Burke Hall, and we will have some fun with it. Watch the sensation when I read it to the boys in the mass meeting.”

Closing the side door of the boat house, Tony padlocked it, and we started back again toward the campus.

“Have you seen Ray Wendell this afternoon?” I asked.

“No; but of course he will be on hand. What would a baseball meeting be without Ray Wendell? By the way, what a scare he gave me last month when he hinted about resigning the captaincy.”

“That was a queer notion. What started it, I wonder?”

“He said he was afraid it would interfere with his studies, especially his preparation for his final examinations.”

“Well, you know he is working for one of the honorary orations at commencement, and he said he would have to work hard, for there is to be a good deal of competition this year.”

“Nonsense, Wendell is sure of an oration, and probably the valedictory. There isn’t a smarter man in the Senior class. There is no reason why baseball should interfere at all.”

“Certainly not. If we are to have a winning team this year it will only be with Ray Wendell as captain――and so I told him. I showed him that all the fellows looked to him, and the college reputation rested in his hands. That soon brought him to terms, and he has never mentioned the matter since. I can’t help thinking, however, that there was more back of that freak of his than he said.”

“He knows as well as the rest of us how necessary he is to the nine,” I rejoined.