without paying much
attention to the swaying of the coxswain's body, by which his stroke
should have been regulated, redoubled his exertions. He was very much
excited, and the next moment the handle of his oar hit the boy in front
of him in the back. Then the boy behind hit him, and a scene of
confusion immediately ensued. Of course no boy could pull his stroke
except in unison with the others; so the whole were compelled to cease
rowing.

"We have lost it," said Frank, good-naturedly.

The boys, seeing how useless it was to attempt to row in the midst of
such confusion, were obliged to wait till order had been restored.

"No, we hain't; pull away!" replied Tim, as He seized his oar, and began
to row with all his might.

"Cease rowing!" said Frank.

"Catch your oars, you sleepies, or they will get in first!" exclaimed
Tim, who continued to struggle with his oar in defiance of the order.

He had already pulled the boat half round.

"I guess the fifty dollars won't come to this crew," added Tim,
contemptuously.

"It certainly will not, if you don't obey orders better than that,"
replied Frank.

"I don't want to have the club beat so easy as that."

"But it is all your fault, Tim."

"You lie!"

"What! what!" exclaimed Frank. "We cannot have such language as that. If
you don't conform to the constitution you have signed, you shall be put
on shore at the nearest land."

"Well, I ain't a going to have it laid to me, when I hain't done
nothing. Didn't I pull with all my might and main? and if the other
fellers had done so too, we should have been ahead of 'em afore this
time," answered Tim, somewhat tamed by the threat of the coxswain.

"We will not talk about that until you say whether you intend to conform
to the rules of the club, or not," added Frank, firmly.

"Of course I do."

Tim was still gruff in his tones; but it was evident that he wanted to
conform to the rules, and that his obstinacy was still struggling for
expression.

"You must not tell the coxswain, or any other member, that he lies,
Tim," continued Frank.

"That was a slip of the tongue."

The Bunker tried to laugh it off, and declared that he was so used to
that form of expression he could not leave it off at once. This was
regarded as a great concession by all.

"Very well; if you will promise to do your best to obey the rules, we
will say no more about it."

"Of course I will," replied Tim, with a laugh, which was equivalent to