Putnam did not like this, and a dark look came to his rugged face.

“What do you mean?” he demanded, sharply.

“Never mind,” returned Walter, with a toss of his head.  “It’s no use to talk it over, but I know a few things.”

He turned as if he would go away, but Put put out a hand and stopped him, whirling him sharply about.

“See here,” said the sturdy manager of the freshman ball team and crew, “I want to know just what you mean, Gordon.”

“Oh, you do?”

Walter flung to the winds all hope of getting on the crew.  He sneered in Putnam’s face.

“Yes, sir, I do!  You talk as if you had not been treated right.”

“Have I?”

“I think you have, sir.”

“I know I have not!”

Putnam was angry, and his face betrayed it.

“You must prove that, Gordon!”

“I can.”

“Do so.”

“I may not prove it to your satisfaction, but I can prove it just as hard.  You have told me that I am in fine form, and I know that you have said I have as fine back and shoulders as may be found in the whole college.”

“I did say that,” calmly acknowledged Old Put.

“Well, that counts for something.”

“But it does not make you suitable for the crew.  There is something more needed, as you should know.  You must be able to row.”

“Is there a man on the crew who pulls a prettier stroke than I?  Just answer me that, Burn Putnam?”

“You do pull a pretty stroke, but I have been convinced that the men on the crew now will hold out, and it is not best to take you in place of any of them.”

“Who convinced you?  I know!  It was Merriwell!  He is holding Rattleton on the crew simply because they are chums, and you are letting him twist you around his finger!  Ha! ha! ha!”

Gordon’s laugh was sarcastic and cutting and it brought a hot flush to the face of Old Put.

“You are insolent, Gordon!” he said.  “This is an open insult!”

“Is it?  Well, I notice you do not deny that Merriwell has held Rattleton on the crew in my place.”

“I deny that he has held any one on the crew that is not fully capable of remaining there on his own merit.”

“That sounds first rate!  Oh, well, I don’t care, anyway!  Your crew is bound to make a show of itself, and it will be beaten hands down by the sophs.”

“So that is the opinion you hold, is it?”

“It is.”

“And I suppose you have held it all along?”

“I have.”

“Then I have made no mistake in dropping you from the crew.  You have quite satisfied me on that point, Gordon.  No man is suitable to hold a place on any kind of a crew or team if he holds it in contempt and has no confidence in it.  He will not work, and his feeling of contempt will communicate itself to others, thus demoralizing the whole lot of them.  Even if he kept his contempt to himself, he is not the man to work his heart out in the effort to win.  He thinks it is no use to kill himself, and he will not make his best effort at any time.  It is my policy to drop such a man, in case I find him out, and drop him hard.  Yes, I am quite satisfied, Gordon.”