Page:Rover Boys in Camp.djvu/84

72 spent much money in secret, treating boys when at the village and elsewhere. By this means he gathered quite a band of followers around him.

"He is going to win, by hook or by crook," observed Songbird Powell. "He acts just like some of those politicians who don't care what they do so long as they win."

"I am not going to spend a cent on the boys," declared Dick. "I don't believe in buying votes."

There was a strict rule at Putnam Hall that no cadet should touch liquor of any kind excepting when ordered by the doctor. This rule had been broken in the past by Dan Baxter and a few others, but the majority of the cadets respected the rule and kept it.

But Lew Flapp had always been allowed to drink when at home and now he frequently drank on the sly when down to Cedarville. On these excursions he was generally joined by a weak-minded boy named Hurdy, who was usually willing to do whatever Flapp desired done.

One day, just before the election for officers was to come off, Lew Flapp called Ben Hurdy to him.

"I am going down to Cedarville this evening," he said. "I want you to go along and invite Jackson and Fender and Rockley."