Oxford long enough to thoroughly acquaint
himself with the English methods," answered Emery.

"And it has been reported that the fellow has traveled all over the
world," said Horner. "His rooms are decorated with all sorts of strange
weapons, trophies and skins of wild animals, which it is said he
gathered in his travels."

"Bah!" sneered Thornton. "I have my doubts about his ever being at
Oxford, and I take no stock at all in the rest of that guff. It is
barely possible that he may have been over to England, but the yarn
about his having traveled in South America, Africa and Europe, is the
biggest sort of rot."

"Well, let it go as rot," said Horner; "you must acknowledge that he did
something most astonishing with that freshman crew. We did not have the
least idea in the world that they could beat us, but we were not in the
race on the home stretch."

"Oh, we thought we had a soft thing, that's all. If we'd dreamed we had
a hard race coming, we'd won all right."

"That may be, but I am not so sure. Still, if Merriwell could do so much
with a lot of freshmen, what might not be done if the same methods were
used with the 'varsity crew?"

"Bah!" cried Thornton again. "That sort of rot makes me sick! Bob
Collingwood has his own ideas, and he will not accept suggestions from
any one, although I think he was a fool to throw down Flemming for
Merriwell. Flem did great work on the football team, and he is in
condition to make a special effort at rowing this spring, while
Merriwell is obliged to play ball as well."

"I don't see how Merriwell does so many things and does them so well,"
confessed Tad Horner.

"Oh, he is one of the chaps who has the nerve to try anything, and will
stumble through anything after a fashion. Nine times out of ten those
fellows are never heard from after they leave college. The fellow who
takes some branch of athletics at college and sticks to it is likely to
select some line of business when he has graduated, and stick to that.
He is not diving into everything, and making a success of nothing."

"But Merriwell seemed to be diving into everything, and making a success
of everything. He is put up differently than most fellows."

"He showed his caddishness in introducing the English oar and stroke
when he was captain of the freshman crew. He would ape things English,
and in that line he makes a failure, at least."

"By Jawve! that is wight, don't yer 'now," drawled Willis Paulding, who
h